Virtual reality training for gastrointestinal endoscopy: A systematic review of efficacy and outcomes

Table 1 Characteristics of the included studies

Ref.	Setting	Study design	Sample size	Level of training
Piskorz et al[4], 2020	Argentina	Pre- and post-test trial	126	PGY1 gastroenterology residents
Van Sickle et al[5], 2011	United States	Pre- and post-test trial	41	PGY1-4 general surgery residents
Telem et al[6], 2014	United States	Pre- and post-test trial	9	Novice surgical interns
Shirai et al[7], 2008	Japan	RCT	20	PGY1 and PGY2 residents in the gastroenterology and hepatology department
Gerson and Van Dam[8], 2003	United States	RCT	16	Internal medicine residents
Koch et al[9], 2015	Netherlands	RCT	18	Residents starting their gastroenterology training
Ferlitsch et al[10], 2002	Austria	RCT	24	Medical residents and experienced endoscopists
Silva Mendes et al[11], 2022	Portugal	Pre- and post-test trial	23	First-year gastroenterology residents
Buzink et al[12], 2007	Netherlands	Pre- and post-test trial	30	Medical interns or residents in training
McIntosh et al[13], 2014	United Kingdom	RCT	18	Residents PGY2 to PGY4
Park et al[14], 2007	Canada	RCT	24	Residents in internal medicine and gastroenterology in PGY1 to PGY3
Gomez et al[15], 2015	United States	RCT	27	Surgical PGY1 residents
Cohen et al[16], 2006	United States	RCT	45	Gastroenterology fellows
Grover et al[17], 2015	United States	RCT	34	Residents in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and general surgery
Vajpeyi et al[18], 2025	Canada	Pre-test post-test trial	33	Eight expert endoscopists and 25 novice endoscopists
Gao et al[19], 2019	China	RCT	27	Clinical doctors
Arnold et al[20], 2015	Denmark	Pre-test post-test trial	37	Senior doctors, medical doctors, and medical students
Bittner et al[21], 2010	United States	Pre-test post-test trial	12	Six were novice endoscopists, and 6 were expert endoscopists
Sahakian et al[22], 2016	United States	NRCT	10	Four gastroenterology faculty and six fellows
Ferlitsch et al[23], 2010	Austria	RCT	28	28 residents
Georgiou et al[24], 2023	Bulgaria	NRCT	37	7 expert endoscopists and 31 novices
Sedlack[25], 2007	United States	RCT	29	Gastroenterology fellows with different levels of experience
Sedlack et al[26], 2004	United States	RCT	38	PGY2 internal medicine residents
Sedlack and Kolars[27], 2004	United States	RCT	8	First-year GI fellows
Haycock et al[28], 2010	Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom	RCT	36	Novice colonoscopists
Di Giulio et al[29], 2004	Italy	RCT	22	Gastroenterology fellows
Ahlberg et al[30], 2005	Sweden	RCT	22	12 residents and 10 surgeons
Grover et al[31], 2017	Canada	RCT	37	Novice endoscopists
Ende et al[32], 2012	Germany	RCT	28	Medical and surgical residents

PGY: Postgraduate year; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; NRCT: Non-randomized controlled trial; GI: Gastrointestinal.