Virtual Reality as a Measure to Reduce Stress of Night-Shift Anesthesiologists: Study Protocol for a Cross-Over Design Trial

Background: Because of the severe deficiency of global anesthesia workforce, anesthesiologists are forced to face work overload and more night shifts, which can disturbe the biological rhythm and cause major stress and depression, causing negative even devastating outcomes for both themselves and the patients eventually. Virtual reality (VR) as a new measure to reduce stress and pain for patients, has been widely used in biomedical fields.The purpose of the study is to evaluate the potential effectiveness of VR technology in reducing the stress of night-shift anesthesiologists.Methods: In this randomized controlled, cross-over design, single-center clinical trial, a total of 30 anesthesiologists are enrolled and randomized in a 1:1 allocation to either the VR immersion group (intervention group) or the routine night-shift group (control group) with a washout of 1 week. Anesthesiologists in the intervention group undergo VR immersion for twice while anesthesiologists in the control group will not watch VR videos during the night shift. The primary outcome is the difference between two groups about the score of NASA-TLX scale. Secondary outcomes include the score of CPSS, VAS and MFI-20 scales, satisfaction degree of the participants, heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), the incidence of arrhythmia as well as incidence of chest tightness, headache, palpitations.Discussion: It is unknown whether the use of VR technology during the night shift can reduce the stress of night-shift anesthesiologists. With the widely use of VR technology, a positive result of the trial could spur the hospital to apply the technology to reduce the stress of night shift doctors in every department as well as offer a relatively relaxed working environment.Trial registration: ChiCTR2000031025 on March 21, 2020.

背景：由于全球麻醉工作人员严重短缺，麻醉师被迫面临工作超负荷以及更多的夜班，这会扰乱生物节律，导致严重的压力和抑郁，最终对他们自身和患者都产生负面甚至是毁灭性的后果。虚拟现实（VR）作为一种减轻患者压力和疼痛的新方法，已广泛应用于生物医学领域。本研究的目的是评估VR技术在减轻夜班麻醉师压力方面的潜在效果。 方法：在这项随机对照、交叉设计的单中心临床试验中，共招募30名麻醉师，并按1∶1的比例随机分配到VR沉浸组（干预组）或常规夜班组（对照组），中间间隔1周洗脱期。干预组的麻醉师进行两次VR沉浸，而对照组的麻醉师在夜班期间不观看VR视频。主要结局是两组在NASA - TLX量表得分上的差异。次要结局包括CPSS、VAS和MFI - 20量表得分、参与者的满意度、心率（HR）、血压（BP）、心律失常的发生率以及胸闷、头痛、心悸的发生率。 讨论：在夜班期间使用VR技术是否能减轻夜班麻醉师的压力尚不清楚。随着VR技术的广泛应用，该试验的阳性结果可能会促使医院将该技术应用于减轻每个科室夜班医生的压力，并提供一个相对轻松的工作环境。 试验注册：中国临床试验注册中心，注册号ChiCTR2000031025，注册时间2020年3月21日。