Games for health journal
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Games for health journal · Jun 2016
Circumplex Model of Affect: A Measure of Pleasure and Arousal During Virtual Reality Distraction Analgesia.
Immersive virtual reality (VR) distraction provides clinically effective pain relief and increases subjective reports of "fun" in medical settings of procedural pain. The goal of this study was to better describe the variable of "fun" associated with VR distraction analgesia using the circumplex model (pleasure/arousal) of affect. ⋯ Immersive VR distraction reduces subjective pain intensity induced by multimodal experimental nociception. Subjects who report less anxiety, more fun, more VR presence, and more positive emotional valence during VR distraction are more likely to report subjective pain reduction. These findings indicate VR distraction analgesia may be mediated through anxiolytic, attentional, and/or affective mechanisms.