The effectiveness of virtual reality-based technology on anatomy teaching: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) is an innovation that permits the individual to discover and operate three-dimensional (3D) environment to gain practical understanding instantly. Recently, VR has been advanced as an encouraging tool in the course of clinical college. This research aimed to examine the general efficiency of VR for teaching medical anatomy. We executed a meta-analysis of randomized regulated studies of the performance of VR anatomy education. We browsed 5 databases from the year 1990 to 2019. Ultimately, 15 randomized controlled trials with a teaching outcome measure analysis were included. Tow authors separately chosen studies, extracted information, and examined the risk of bias. The primary outcomes were examination scores of the students. Secondary outcomes were the degree of satisfaction of the students. Random-effects models were used for the pooled evaluations. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was applied to assess the systematic results. The heterogeneity was determined by I2 statistics, and then was investigated by meta-regression and subgroup analyses. In this review, we screened and included fifteen randomized controlled researches (816 students). The pooled analysis of primary outcomes showed that VR improves test scores comparing with other approaches (standardized mean difference [SMD]= 0.53; 95% CI 0.09–0.97; I2= 87.8%). The high homogeneity indicated that the studies were different from each other. Therefore, we carried out meta-regression as well as subgroup analyses using 7 variables (year, country, learners, course, intervention, comparator, and duration). We found that VR improves postintervention test score of anatomy comparing with other types of teaching methods. Although the findings have high internal validity and limited, because of that anatomy teaching in medical universities appears to becoming a dilemma, VR may act as an efficient way to improve the learners’ level of anatomy knowledge. Future research should assess other factors like degree of satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, and adverse reactions when evaluating the teaching effectiveness of VR in anatomy.