Educational considerations based on medical student use of polygenic risk information and apparent race in a simulated consultation.

PURPOSE: To craft evidence-based educational approaches related to polygenic risk score (PRS) implementation, it is crucial to forecast issues and biases that may arise when PRS are introduced in clinical care. METHODS: Medical students (N = 84) were randomized to a simulated primary care encounter with a Black or White virtual reality-based patient and received either a direct-to-consumer-style PRS report for 5 common complex conditions or control information. The virtual patient inquired about 2 health concerns and her genetic report in the encounter. Data sources included participants' verbalizations in the simulation, care plan recommendations, and self-report outcomes. RESULTS: When medical students received PRSs, they rated the patient as less healthy and requiring more strict advice. Patterns suggest that PRSs influenced specific medical recommendations related to the patient's concerns, despite student reports that participants did not use it for that purpose. We observed complex patterns regarding the effect of patient race on recommendations and behaviors. CONCLUSION: Educational approaches should consider potential unintentional influences of PRSs on decision-making and evaluate ways that they may be applied inconsistently across patients from different racial groups.

Cybersickness Variability by Race: Findings From 6 Studies and a Mini Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: With the influx of medical virtual reality (VR) technologies, cybersickness has transitioned from a nuisance experienced during leisure activities to a potential safety and efficacy concern for patients and clinicians. To improve health equity, it is important to understand any potential differences in cybersickness propensity among demographic groups, including racial groups. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore whether cybersickness propensity differs across racial groups. METHODS: We collected self-reported cybersickness ratings from 6 racially diverse independent samples within 1 laboratory group (N=931). In these studies, the participants were asked to perform tasks in VR such as traversing environments, pointing at and selecting objects, and interacting with virtual humans. RESULTS: Significant racial differences in cybersickness were found in 50% (3/6) of studies. A mini meta-analysis revealed that, on average, Black participants reported approximately one-third of SD less cybersickness than White participants (Cohen d=-0.31; P<.001), regardless of the nature of the VR experience. There was no overall difference in reported cybersickness between the Asian and White participants (Cohen d=-0.11; P=.51). CONCLUSIONS: Racial differences in cybersickness indicate that researchers, practitioners, and regulators should consider patient demographics when evaluating VR health intervention outcomes. These findings lay the groundwork for future studies that may explore racial differences in cybersickness directly.

Parental reward-based eating drive predicts parents' feeding behaviors and Children's ultra-processed food intake.

Reward-based eating drive is associated with individual consumption, but there has been a paucity of research on the relationships between parental reward-based eating, child feeding behaviors, and child food consumption. Child feeding behaviors likely to be associated with parental reward-based eating drive include the provision of ultra-processed foods, as they are designed to be hyperpalatable and are associated with disordered food intake. The present study uses a virtual reality (VR) buffet restaurant environment to examine parents' food choice behaviors for their children and a food frequency assessment to measure the children's reported consumption over the course of a week. Results found that parental reward-based eating drive significantly predicted ultra-processed calories chosen by parents for their children in the VR Buffet, as well as the amount of ultra-processed food children ate according to the food frequency assessment. Both of these effects were significantly mediated by the healthfulness of the home food environment. This study is among the first to demonstrate associations between parental reward-based eating drive and child-focused food behavior and to elucidate a mediating effect of the home food environment on such relationships. These findings may be useful for the development of family-based interventions to improve child feeding and ultimately child health.

Using Educational Videos and Perspective-Taking to Communicate Gene-By-Environment Interaction Concepts about Eating Behavior: Effects on Empathy and Weight Stigma.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether education about gene-by-environment interaction (G × E) concepts could improve G × E knowledge and positively affect empathy and weight stigma. DESIGN: We conducted a randomized trial using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. SETTING: Online. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred eighty-two American participants from the Prolific platform. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomly assigned to watch an educational or a control video. Participants then watched a set of vignette scenarios that depicted what it is like to have a predisposition toward obesogenic eating behaviors from either a first-person or third-person perspective. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Participants completed questionnaires measuring G × E knowledge, causal attributions, weight stigma, and empathy postintervention. ANALYSIS: Two-by-two between-subjects ANOVAs and exploratory mediation analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Participants who watched the educational video demonstrated greater G × E knowledge, reported higher empathy toward the characters in the vignette scenarios and held fewer stigmatizing attitudes (notably blame) toward individuals with higher weight. Exploratory mediation analyses indicated that the educational video led to these positive downstream effects by increasing the extent to which participants attributed genetic causes to eating behaviors. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Education about G × E causes of eating behaviors can have beneficial downstream effects on attitudes toward people with higher weight.

Olfactory Perception and Presence in a Virtual Reality Food Environment.

Virtual reality (VR)'s effectiveness as a medium for training, education, research, entertainment and other uses is based on the fact that users can be deeply immersed and feel present within virtual environments. Olfaction has received less attention regarding its ability to add realism to VR environments. It is important to investigate under which circumstances olfactory stimuli are likely to add to user experience and help achieve the goals of VR applications. This study examined the role of scent in a VR-based buffet restaurant environment. French fry scented oil was administered while participants made a plate of food in the VR Buffet. Participants were asked afterwards to report on smells they perceived. Only 18% of participants perceived the olfactory stimulus, 78% of whom correctly identified it. Perceiving the olfactory stimulus was associated with higher levels of presence in the VR Buffet. Correctly identifying the olfactory stimulus was associated with heightened presence and increased likelihood of choosing french fries from the VR Buffet. These results demonstrate the potential for variability in scent perception and related user experience in VR. Additionally, this study highlights a need for future research into factors that underlie and moderate olfactory perception in VR environments.