Virtual Reality During Skin Prick Test

Federico II University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Allergy

Treatments: Device: Virtual reality

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06952192

11n24

Details and patient eligibility

About

Skin prick testing (SPT) is a cornerstone diagnostic procedure for identifying allergic sensitizations in pediatric patients. Despite being minimally invasive, it often provokes considerable anxiety, fear, and pain, potentially compromising test accuracy due to poor compliance. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a promising non-pharmacological tool for procedural distress management, yet its application in allergy diagnostics remains underexplored.

To evaluate the effectiveness of VR in reducing procedural anxiety, fear, and pain, and in improving compliance in children undergoing SPT.

Enrollment: 108 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 4 to 18 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• a confirmed history of allergic symptoms related to either environmental or food allergens
• between 4 and 18 years of age

Exclusion criteria

• history of seizure disorders,
• motion sickness,
• severe developmental delay,
• non-Italian-speaking patients
• Participants who had used systemic antihistamines or corticosteroids within the past seven days

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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108 participants in 2 patient groups

Virtual reality

Experimental group

Treatment:

Device: Virtual reality

Standard of care

No Intervention group