An emergency department study at a hospital in Ankara, Turkey, found that patients who viewed calming VR scenes and listened to classical music alongside standard medication experienced greater reductions in blood pressure and anxiety during the early stages of treatment. Researchers thus explored the adjunctive use of VR headsets, commonly used in gaming, in emergency care.
The study focused on patients presenting to the emergency department with significantly elevated blood pressure. Safa Dönmez, an associate professor of emergency medicine involved in the research, explained that such patients may have systolic blood pressure of 180 mmHg or higher, or diastolic blood pressure of 110 mmHg or higher; noise, bright lights, and uncertainty in the emergency room can also exacerbate their stress.
The study involved two groups of 65 participants each. All patients received standard antihypertensive medication; one group additionally wore VR headsets to view calming natural scenes and listened to classical music via mobile phones, while the control group received only standard medication.
Fifteen and thirty minutes after treatment began, the VR and music group showed approximately 12% to 15% greater reductions in blood pressure and anxiety compared to the control group. Researcher Kadir Yenal stated that at the 15-minute mark, patients in this group had lower blood pressure readings and a greater reduction from pre-treatment levels. However, the gap between the two groups narrowed thereafter, with results becoming largely comparable from the 60-minute mark onward.
The research team presented their findings at the 2026 European Congress on Emergency Medicine. Yenal believes that VR and music can serve as adjuncts to standard treatment, particularly for patients experiencing significant anxiety or distress. As the study was conducted at a single hospital, a member of the conference abstract committee noted that these preliminary results warrant further investigation.