A-42 Patient Perspectives and Attitudes Toward the Use of Virtual Reality in Pediatric Sports-Related Concussion

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Virtual reality (VR) has garnered increased attention as a modality to evaluate sports-related concussion (SRC). The purpose of this study was to better understand patient perspectives and attitudes towards VR while in the acute phase of injury. Methods Pediatric SRC patients aged 12-18 and within 72 hours from injury to initial visit were recruited. After completion of a VR task, patients were asked to rate their attitudes and perceptions on a custom VR user experience survey, on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Results A total of 21 patients were eligible (Age=14.9±1.7; Female 57.1%; White 61.9%). Patients reported that the VR task involved mental focus (3.14±.57), required eye movements in all directions (3.33±.97), and motivated them to “finish and win” (3.38±2.11). Patients were neutral in their evaluation of the strategic component of the VR task (2.48±.93). They denied any difficulties understanding task instructions (.67±.96). Conclusions Overall, VR may be a promising avenue of research to evaluate SRC in pediatric patients given the level of engagement, ease of administration, and rich data captured by the VR device. Future research should determine whether VR can be used to accurately diagnose SRC and gather user information about ways to amplify the game-like and strategic nature of the task.