ArticlePLOS digital health2026
Immersive virtual reality-based intervention for psychological wellbeing among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in PLOS digital health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Experiences of Nature Through Immersive Virtual Reality Among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- How do nature-based interventions increase the resilience of older persons? A best fit framework synthesis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Review
- Evaluating the Effects of Clinician Prescribing and Implementation Materials on Adoption of Virtual Reality Therapeutics: Randomized Feasibility Pilot Study.JMIR XR and spatial computing · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Immersive virtual reality (IVR) is an emerging therapeutic modality that engages older adults in psychological therapeutically oriented activities developed to improve their psychological well-being. This systematic review aims to investigate the effects of IVR psychological intervention on psychological symptoms and well-being. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted following the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Six databases were searched, including Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO, covering the period from 2010 to December 2024. RevMan 5.3 was utilized for meta-analysis, and the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was employed for quality assessment. Ten randomized controlled trials of 746 older adults were included. The IVR interventions employed reminiscence (40%), garden/forest therapy (40%), cognitive stimulation (10%), and multi-sensory stimulation to reduce psychological symptoms and improve self-perception (10%). Data pooling suggested that IVR interventions have significantly reduced depressive symptoms [n = 5; SMD = -0.83, 95%CI (-1.05, -0.60), I2 = 21%, p < .001]; anxiety [n = 5, SMD = -0.77, 95% CI (-1.32, -0.22), I2 = 70%, p = .006]. Synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) was conducted for stress and affect outcomes following SWiM guidance. In all three studies (100%), IVR produced statistically significant reductions in stress versus usual/standard care, and in both studies (100%), it yielded statistically significant improvements in affect-higher positive and lower negative affect-compared with the respective control conditions. IVR-based interventions could be an alternative method for alleviating the psychological symptoms of older adults. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42024575387.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.