Efficacy of Immersive Entertainement Glasses in Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Reduce Claustrofobia: Clinical Control Trial

INTRODUCTION According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V), there are many categories of anxiety disorders. The specific phobias are a type of disorder where there is an extreme fear of people, objects, or specific situations. Among the most common symptoms are physical and emotional ones. Physical symptoms may include, but are not limited to, shortness of breath, trembling, sweating, tachycardia, dry mouth, and chest pain. The most frequent emotional symptoms are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety or fear, presenting fear of losing control, needing to leave the place that causes anxiety and understanding that it is an irrational fear but not being able to avoid it. According to some authors, the specific disorders in the Korean population are between 5.2% and 4.2%.

Among the different phobias, claustrophobia is the most common. This is a situational phobia and consists of an irrational fear that occurs when the person is in closed spaces such as an elevator, a tunnel, or some radiological test equipment such as an MRI. The person has an intense and irrational fear of being confined in a small space and not being able to escape.

This situation has an implication from the point of view of public health because these people are sometimes unable to undergo an MRI since, in addition, they must be about 30 minutes still in a small space. Therefore, this type of disorder leads on numerous occasions to the cancellation of the test, or to a premature termination, causing damage to the patient's health since, either the MRI is not performed, or they must undergo sedation or anesthesia.

Magnetic resonance imaging is very useful in the detection and characterization of lesions. Some authors state that 37% of people who undergo an MRI have moderate to intense levels of anxiety. The prevalence of claustrophobia in the population is between 7.7% and 12.5%, although the frequency is higher among the female sex Approximately 1% of the population that requires an MRI rejects its performance or terminates it prematurely due to claustrophobia. Some researchers claim that 1.6% of patients finished the test prematurely due to claustrophobia, and, in addition, 3.8% underwent conscious sedation. These procedures increase the risk of complications, and in addition they increase the cost.

The most common therapy to treat claustrophobia is cognitive behavioral therapy, with gradual exposure to closed or narrow spaces being the most widespread treatment.