| Literature DB >> 30595830 |
Chai-Fen Tsai1, Shih-Ching Yeh2, Yanyan Huang3,4, Zhengyu Wu3, Jianjun Cui2, Lirong Zheng2.
Abstract
Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by the fear of enclosed spaces. Although medication treatment can effectively control symptoms, the effects quickly disappear once medication is discontinued. Many studies have shown that combining psychotherapy and medication is more efficacious than solely using medication. However, the weaknesses of the traditional psychotherapy are that it is time-consuming and expensive. Alternatively, vivo exposure therapy is proposed in which anxiety is gradually triggered with stimuli. Targeting claustrophobia is diagnosed using the traditional method, and this study established virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) environments consistent with claustrophobic characteristics, comparing the two using an experimental process to examine whether VR and AR environments are equally capable of triggering anxiety in participants. This study further analysed the efficacies of VR and AR by measuring changes in participant's heart rates variability (HRV) and examining data from survey questionnaires. HRV results indicated that the proposed VR system and AR system were both able to trigger anxiety. Furthermore, the AR environment produced a stronger experience for the participants and caused physiological reactions more evident than those caused by the VR environment. Regarding the anxiety questionnaire, the participants suggested that their anxiety was significantly higher in the VR environment than in the AR environment.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2018 PMID: 30595830 PMCID: PMC6286749 DOI: 10.1155/2018/6357351
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Healthc Eng ISSN: 2040-2295 Impact factor: 2.682
Figure 1VR system.
Figure 2AR system.
Figure 3Scene with flames.
Script of events.
| Time elapsed for the game | Event occurred | |
|---|---|---|
| Time 0 | Baseline | Start of first stimulus |
| Time 1 | After 30 s | Elevator door opens |
| Time 2 | After 45 s | Elevator door closes |
| Time 3 | After 55 s | Lights flash and alarms activate within the elevator |
| Time 4 | After 1 min 40 s | Lights turn out, and evacuation sounds can be heard |
| Time 5 | After 2 min 5 s | Collision sound and heartbeating sound can be heard |
| Time 6 | After 3 min 40 s | Flames rise, and screaming sounds can be heard |
| Time 7 | 5 min | Simulation ends |
One-way ANOVA of the HRV physiological data values.
| Sum of squares | Degree of freedom | Mean sum of squares |
| Significance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDNN | Between-group | 9123.245 | 2 | 4561.622 | 12.253 | 0.000 |
| Within-group | 32389.664 | 87 | 372.295 | |||
| Overall | 41512.909 | 89 | ||||
|
| ||||||
| RMSSD | Between-group | 1298.241 | 2 | 649.120 | 2.559 | 0.083 |
| Within-group | 22067.628 | 87 | 253.651 | |||
| Overall | 23365.869 | 89 | ||||
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| pNN20 | Between-group | 2518.745 | 2 | 1259.372 | 6.138 | 0.003 |
| Within-group | 17851.371 | 87 | 205.188 | |||
| Overall | 20370.116 | 89 | ||||
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| pNN50 | Between-group | 897.829 | 2 | 448.914 | 2.563 | 0.083 |
| Within-group | 15236.540 | 87 | 175.133 | |||
| Overall | 16134.369 | 89 | ||||
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| HF | Between-group | 11054376.62 | 2 | 5527188.311 | 2.601 | 0.080 |
| Within-group | 184856864.5 | 87 | 2124791.546 | |||
| Overall | 195911241.1 | 89 | ||||
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| LnHF | Between-group | 3.891 | 2 | 1.945 | 3.478 | 0.035 |
| Within-group | 48.662 | 87 | 0.559 | |||
| Overall | 52.553 | 89 | ||||
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| LnLF | Between-group | 1.244 | 2 | 0.622 | 2.457 | 0.092 |
| Within-group | 22.016 | 87 | 0.253 | |||
| Overall | 23.259 | 89 | ||||
Descriptive statistics for the HRV physiological data between groups.
| Quantity | Mean | SD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDNN | Normal | 30 | 80.81 | 24.90 |
| AR | 30 | 56.19 | 12.23 | |
| VR | 30 | 67.21 | 18.64 | |
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| RMSSD | Normal | 30 | 48.19 | 14.29 |
| AR | 30 | 42.82 | 12.99 | |
| VR | 30 | 52.08 | 19.70 | |
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| pNN20 | Normal | 30 | 47.90 | 12.95 |
| AR | 30 | 42.67 | 15.30 | |
| VR | 30 | 55.55 | 14.62 | |
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| pNN50 | Normal | 30 | 21.51 | 11.53 |
| AR | 30 | 18.45 | 12.01 | |
| VR | 30 | 26.13 | 15.76 | |
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| HF | Normal | 30 | 2025.77 | 1330.49 |
| AR | 30 | 1536.63 | 1285.64 | |
| VR | 30 | 2392.17 | 1717.94 | |
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| LnHF | Normal | 30 | 7.40 | 0.70 |
| AR | 30 | 7.04 | 0.79 | |
| VR | 30 | 7.53 | 0.75 | |
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| LnLF | Normal | 30 | 7.77 | 0.44 |
| AR | 30 | 7.49 | 0.47 | |
| VR | 30 | 7.65 | 0.59 | |
Comparison of HRV physiological data between VR and normal circumstances.
| Quantity |
| Significance (two-tailed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDNN | 30 | 2.396 | 0.020 |
| RMSSD | 30 | −0.875 | 0.385 |
| pNN20 | 30 | −2.144 | 0.036 |
| pNN50 | 30 | −1.298 | 0.199 |
| HF | 30 | −0.924 | 0.360 |
| LnHF | 30 | −0.706 | 0.483 |
| LnLF | 30 | 0.935 | 0.353 |
Comparison of HRV physiological data between AR and normal circumstances.
| Quantity |
| Significance (two-tailed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDNN | 30 | 4.861 | 0.000 |
| RMSSD | 30 | 1.525 | 0.133 |
| pNN20 | 30 | 1.431 | 0.158 |
| pNN50 | 30 | 1.006 | 0.319 |
| HF | 30 | 1.448 | 0.153 |
| LnHF | 30 | 1.866 | 0.067 |
| LnLF | 30 | 2.452 | 0.017 |
TAM results.
| Awareness + presence | Usefulness | Ease of use | Playfulness | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean score | 3.50 | 3.86 | 3.38 | 3.56 |
Comparison of HRV physiological data between VR and AR.
| Quantity |
| Significance (two-tailed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDNN | 30 | −2.706 | 0.009 |
| RMSSD | 30 | −2.150 | 0.036 |
| pNN20 | 30 | −3.335 | 0.001 |
| pNN50 | 30 | −2.124 | 0.038 |
| HF | 30 | −2.184 | 0.033 |
| LnHF | 30 | −2.467 | 0.017 |
| LnLF | 30 | −1.176 | 0.244 |
Paired sample analysis for anxiety.
| Group | Sample size | Mean | SD |
| Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AR mean | 30 | 3.16 | 0.55 | −4.29 |
|
| VR mean | 30 | 3.58 | 0.48 |
Significance level = 0.05; indicates P < 0.01.