Medical College of Wisconsin
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The Use of Virtual Reality Learning on Transition Education in Adolescents with Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatr Cardiol 2023 Dec;44(8):1856-1860

Date

09/07/2023

Pubmed ID

37676275

DOI

10.1007/s00246-023-03292-w

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85169901832 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   1 Citation

Abstract

Improvement in congenital heart disease (CHD) outcomes has created a growing population of adolescents and young adults with unique health needs that require thoughtful transition planning and eventual transfer of care to an adult provider. Often, poor health literacy and limited resources can lead to interrupted care, which places them at risk for adverse health-related consequences. In 2019, the Wisconsin Adult Congenital Heart Disease transition program partnered with Stanford Virtual Heart (SVH), a virtual reality (VR) platform, to allow young adult patients to learn about their CHD in a clinic-based setting. We completed a single-center pilot study to evaluate these patients' experience and perceptions to using VR during their transition education. At an initial transition visit, we used an immediate post-VR experience survey, scored using Likert scales of 1-5 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Twenty-two patients (13 males) between the ages of 16 and 19 participated. Lesions included pulmonary stenosis, Tetralogy of Fallot, atrial and ventricular septal defect, coarctation, aortic stenosis, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and patent ductus arteriosus. Likert averages were 4.7 for finding VR helped with understanding their heart lesion, 4.6 for finding VR helped with understanding their heart surgery, 4.7 for enjoying the VR heart simulation, and 4.6 for finding that it was a good use of time. This study demonstrates that adolescents enjoyed using SVH and found it helpful. Clinical implementation shows promise as a plausible adjunct tool for transition education.

Author List

Kieu V, Sumski C, Cohen S, Reinhardt E, Axelrod DM, Handler SS

Author

Stephanie S. Handler MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Educational Status
Heart Atria
Heart Defects, Congenital
Humans
Male
Pilot Projects
Virtual Reality
Young Adult