Perceived Value of Virtual Reality Simulations to Gain Insights into Delirium: A Pilot Study

Background Delirium affects one-in-four hospitalized individuals aged 65-years or older, and is associated with serious complications, including post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged hospitalization, and increased mortality. Healthcare professionals often lack insight into the distress that patients experience; this is known to undermine empathic care and timely detection. Virtual reality (VR) is emerging as a promising tool to enhance empathy and understanding of the patient experience due to its inherent immersive, embodied, and experience-based characteristics. Objective To pilot and obtain preliminary subjective evidence on the usability, empathic impact, and educational value of a VR simulation grounded in qualitative evidence of patients’ delirium experiences. Methods 23 university students completed a 7-minute VR delirium simulation and an immediate 42-item survey. This included usability items adapted from the System Usability Scale, items conceptually informed by different validated questionnaires, and study-specific items. Full instruments were not administered to minimize respondent burden and target context-specific elements. Spearman correlations explored response patterns. Open-ended items were summarized descriptively. Results Twelve of 22 Likert items differed from neutrality (3) after correction. Participants found the simulation intuitive (M=4.30, SD=0.70, d=1.86) and its immersive nature engaging (M=4.22, SD=0.74, d=1.65), reporting increased empathy (M=4.39, SD=0.58, d= 2.39), improved understanding of delirium-related emotional distress (M=4.13, SD=0.81, d=1.48) and cognitive distortions (M=4.22, SD=0.60, d=1.81). They endorsed the integration of VR into health education and expressed interest in potential additional features. Qualitative responses highlighted VR’s value for empathy training and to improve doctor-patient communication, while calling for even greater realism and personalization. Conclusion This pilot study suggests that VR simulations are perceived as effective, engaging tools for enhancing empathy and insight in delirium-related education and care training.