Immersive virtual reality-based intervention for psychological wellbeing among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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.