Focusing on Cybersickness: Pervasiveness, Latent Trajectories, Susceptibility, and Effects on the Virtual Reality Experience

Although virtual reality (VR) usage has steadily increased in the last decade, its adoption has been hampered by experiences of user discomfort known as cybersickness. The present study, in line with the 2020 cybersickness research agenda, sought to provide a broad examination of the cybersickness phenomenon, assessing its pervasiveness, latent trajectories, impacts on the VR experience, and predictor variables. The study was composed of 92 participants living in the Dominican Republic with ages ranging from 18 to 52 years (M=26.22), who experienced a 10-minute VR immersion in two environments designed for psychotherapy. The results indicated that cybersickness was pervasive, with 65.2% of the participants experiencing it, and 23.9% severely. Additionally, the latent trajectories of cybersickness were positive and curvilinear, with large heterogeneity across individuals. Cybersickness also had a substantive negative impact on the user experience and the intentions to adopt the VR technology. Finally, motion sickness susceptibility, cognitive stress, and recent headaches, uniquely predicted greater severity of cybersickness, while age was negatively related. These combined results highlight the critical role that cybersickness plays on the VR experience and underscore the importance of finding solutions to the problems, such as technological advancements or special usage protocols for the more susceptible individuals.

Effects of cumulative trauma load on long-term trajectories of life satisfaction and health in a population-based study

Background Lifetime traumatic events are known to have a detrimental long-term impact on both mental and physical health. Yet, heterogeneity in the stress response regarding well-being in adults is not well understood. This study investigates effects of cumulative trauma on latent trajectories of two indices of well-being, subjective health and life satisfaction in a large representative sample by means of latent variable modelling techniques. Methods Data from the pairfam study wave 2–9, a longitudinal representative survey was used (N = 10,825). Individuals reported on lifetime trauma type exposure on wave 7 and indicated levels of life satisfaction and health at each wave. Different types of latent Variable Mixture Models were applied in an iterative fashion. Conditional models investigated effects of cumulative trauma load. Results The best fitting model indicated three latent trajectories for life, and four for health, respectively. Trauma load significantly predicted class membership: Higher exposure was associated with non-stable trajectories for both indices but followed complex patterns of both improving and decreasing life satisfaction and health. Trauma load also explained variability within classes. Conclusions The current study expands on evidence to the long-term development of health and life satisfaction in response to traumatic events from a latent variable modelling perspective. Besides detrimental effect, it also points to functional adaptation after initial decline and increased well-being associated with trauma exposure. Thus, response to traumatic stress is marked by great heterogeneity. Future research should focus on variables beyond exposure to trauma that can further identify individuals prone to trajectories of declining well-being.

Trajectories of Outpatient Service Utilisation of Hypertensive Patients in Tertiary Hospitals in China

This study aims to identify the characteristics and trajectories of outpatient service utilisation for hypertensive patients in tertiary hospitals. This study also attempts to investigate the determinants of the trajectories of outpatient service utilisation. A total of 9822 patients with hypertension and hypertension-related medical utilisation were recruited in Yichang, China from January 1 to December 31 in 2016. The latent trajectories of outpatient service utilisation were identified through latent class growth analysis. Differences in the demographic characteristics and medical utilisation among patients in different trajectories were tested by one-way ANOVA and chi-square analysis. The predictors of the trajectory groups of outpatient service utilisation were identified through multinomial logistic regression. Four trajectory groups were determined as stable-low (34.7%), low-fluctuating (13.4%), high-fluctuating (22.5%), and stable-high (29.4%). Significant differences were observed in all demographic characteristics (p < 0.001) and medical service utilisation variables (p < 0.001) among the four trajectories except for inpatient cost (p = 0.072). Determinants for outpatient service utilisation patterns include the place of residence, education level, outpatient visit times, inpatient service utilisation, and outpatient cost. Overall, hypertensive patients visiting outpatient units in the tertiary hospital were middle-aged, elderly, and well-educated, and they received poor follow-up services. The four identified latent trajectories have different characteristics and medical utilisation patterns. Trajectory group-based measurements are necessary for hypertension management and economic burden reduction.