Effect of Virtual Reality-Assisted Discharge Education on Readiness for Hospital Discharge Following Transurethral Resection of the Prostate for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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Background: Effective discharge education is essential for promoting postoperative recovery following transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP); however, conventional discharge education may be insufficient to adequately prepare patients for self-care after discharge. Virtual reality (VR)-assisted education has emerged as an innovative approach that provides immersive and interactive learning experiences. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of VR-assisted discharge education on readiness for hospital discharge in patients undergoing TURP. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 68 patients undergoing TURP at a university hospital. Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n = 34), which received standardized VR-assisted discharge education before surgery in addition to routine care, or a control group (n = 34), which received routine discharge education alone. Readiness for hospital discharge was assessed using the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale–Short Form (RHDS-SF) before the intervention and immediately prior to discharge. Data were analyzed using a two-way mixed-design analysis of variance. Results: Mean baseline scores were comparable between groups. Readiness for hospital discharge increased significantly over time in both groups; however, the improvement was significantly greater in the intervention group. Mixed-design ANOVA demonstrated a significant main effect of time (p < 0.001) and a significant time × group interaction (p < 0.001), indicating that VR-assisted discharge education produced greater improvements in discharge readiness than routine discharge education. The RHDS-SF demonstrated acceptable to good internal consistency across the two measurement points (Cronbach’s α = 0.705 at pre-test and 0.807 at post-test). Conclusions: The structured VR-assisted discharge education intervention resulted in greater improvements in perceived readiness for hospital discharge than routine discharge education among patients undergoing TURP. Structured VR-assisted education may be a useful complementary approach to routine discharge education for supporting patients’ preparedness for postoperative self-care. Further multicenter studies with longer follow-up are needed to determine whether these improvements result in sustained clinical benefits.