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Virtual Reality Education for Hospitalized Pediatric Patients Improves Intrinsic Motivation: A Prospective, Randomized Crossover Study.

Faith Collins·Emily Moya·Marcos S Rojas-Pino·Michelle Zuniga-Hernandez·Faaizah Arshad·Ruth Feng·Ellen Y Wang·Samuel T Rodriguez·Christian Jackson·Thomas J Caruso
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Abstract

Hospitalized children experience educational disruption and reduced motivation during prolonged admissions. Despite the availability of in-hospital schools, many cannot participate due to illness severity or isolation precautions. This pragmatic, randomized crossover trial evaluated whether bedside virtual reality (VR) lessons improve intrinsic motivation among inpatients aged 5 to 25 years unable to attend the hospital school. Participants completed both VR-based educational sessions and standard of care (SOC) conditions on consecutive days. The primary outcome was intrinsic motivation, with secondary outcomes including educational self-efficacy, well-being, self-esteem, and parental experience. Of 156 enrolled patients, 100 were analyzed (mean age 11.5 [SD = 4.1 years]; 43.9% female). Intrinsic motivation scores were higher in the VR condition than SOC (P = .0048), and parental satisfaction was also greater (P = .0008). Bedside VR education represents a feasible, acceptable, and scalable adjunct to inpatient learning, supporting intrinsic motivation and caregiver satisfaction during hospitalization.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05725395, date first registered November 22, 2022.

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HumansFemaleMotivationChildCross-Over StudiesVirtual RealityProspective StudiesMaleAdolescentChild, HospitalizedChild, PreschoolPatient Education as TopicYoung AdultAdultSelf EfficacyInpatientsHospitalizationfamily-centered carehospital-based educationintrinsic motivationpediatric inpatientsvirtual realityJournal ArticleRandomized Controlled TrialPragmatic Clinical Trial

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Faith Collins, Emily Moya, Marcos S Rojas-Pino, Michelle Zuniga-Hernandez, Faaizah Arshad, Ruth Feng, Ellen Y Wang, Samuel T Rodriguez, Christian Jackson, Thomas J Caruso. 2026-06-28. Virtual Reality Education for Hospitalized Pediatric Patients Improves Intrinsic Motivation: A Prospective, Randomized Crossover Study.. https://doi.org/10.1177/00099228261460362

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Adolescent subjectAdult subjectChild subjectChild, Preschool subjectCross-Over Studies subjectFemale subjectHospitalization subjectHumans subjectInpatients subjectJournal Article subjectJournal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Pragmatic Clinical Trial resourceMale subjectMotivation subjectPatient Education as Topic subjectRandomized controlled trials study

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