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Efficacy of Augmentation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Interventions
Combination Product: ERP combined with high-definition active tDCS
Combination Product: ERP combined with sham tDCS
Registration Number
NCT04527302
Lead Sponsor
Shanghai Mental Health Center
Brief Summary

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and clinical outcome of the Exposure-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) concurrent with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and explores the potential neural mechanisms of treatment effect by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG).

Detailed Description

The current study aims to evaluate feasibility and clinical outcome of exposure-based CBT(ERP)combined with tDCS over the prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in treatment of OCD patients. 60 OCD patients whose symptom were mainly associated with "contamination/clean" will be randomized into two groups (i.e. ERP+active tDCS or ERP+sham tDCS stimulation). Over a two-month period, all patients are received 10 sessions of individual CBT, including 8 sessions of concurrent tDCS with ERP (tDCS+ERP). Three independent evaluators will rate the severity of patients' obsessive-compulsive symptoms using Y-BOCS at four assessment points: baseline (prior to the treatment), after the first (session 2#), fourth (session 5#), and eighth treatment of tDCS+ERP (session 10#). The patients will also receive MRI scan and EEG.

The current study aims to explore whether the administration of online tDCS together with ERP (tDCS+ERP) will improve the efficacy of ERP and tries to provide some early evidience that reveal potential neural mechanisms of the treatment.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
60
Inclusion Criteria

(1) 18-50 years old, with at least 9 years of education, (2) Y-BOCS score ≥16, (3) no history of serious medical, neurological illness or other psychotic disorders other than OCD (anxiety or mild to moderate depression secondary to OCD was not exclusionary), (4) medication-free or had received stable medication for at least 2 months before entering the study and continued the same medication throughout the study (5) no previous exposure to ERP or tDCS.

Exclusion Criteria
  • history of serious medical, neurological illness or other psychotic disorders other than OCD
  • The inability to receive tDCS because of metallic implants, or history of seizures,or history of head injury, or history of neurosurgery.
  • Participants who have received ECT, rTMS, tDCS and CBT in the past.
  • Participants with claustrophobic, heart pacemaker, mechanical heart valve, mechanical implant such as an aneurysm clip, hip replacement, or any other pieces of metal that have accidentally entered their body.
  • serious suicide risk

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
active tDCS+exposure based CBTERP combined with high-definition active tDCSThe exposure and response prevention (ERP) treatment concurrently with an anode transcranial direct current stimulation over the mPFC will be applied 8 times (tDCS+ERP, 8sessions) in the whole treatment.
sham tDCS +exposure based CBTERP combined with sham tDCSthe exposure and response prevention (ERP) treatment concurrently with an sham transcranial direct current stimulation over the mPFC will be applied 8 times (sham tDCS+ERP, 8 sessions) in the whole treatment.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
The primary outcome was represented by the percent reduction of Y-BOCS scoresbaseline,2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks (pre-treatment, after Session 2, 5, 10)

We defined the tDCS+ERP treatment response as the percent reduction of Y-BOCS scores greater than or equal to 35%.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Beck Depression Inventory(BDI)baseline,2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks(pre-treatment, after Session 2, 5, 10)

It consists of 21 items and uses a 0 to 3 severity scale. Total scores range from 0 to 63, with higher scores indicating more severe depression symptoms.

Change in Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised(OCI-R)baseline,2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks(pre-treatment, after Session 2, 5, 10)

It is an inventory of OCD symptoms with 18 items that are rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Total scores range from 0 to 72, with higher scores indicating more severe OCD symptoms.

Change in Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI)baseline,2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks(pre-treatment, after Session 2, 5, 10)

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) contains 19 self-rated questions which measures seven aspects of sleep: (1) subjective sleep quality, (2) sleep latency, (3) sleep duration, (4) habitual sleep efficiency, (5) sleep disturbances, (6) use of sleeping medication, and (7) daytime dysfunction. The 19 self-rated items are combined to form seven component scores, each of which has a range of 0-3 points (0 indicates no difficulty, while 3 indicates severe difficulty). The seven component scores are then summed to yield one global score, with a range of 0-21 points (0 indicating no difficulty, and 21 indicating severe difficulties in all the seven areas of sleep quality).

Change in Side-effect questionnaire2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks(after Session 2, 5, 10)

It consists of 10-item and uses 0 to 3 severity scale to rate the intensity of side effects. Total scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating more severe side-effect. It also assesses the relation between side-effect and the effects of tDCS using 0 to 4 scale. Total scores range from 0 to 40, with higher score indicating the greater relation.

Change in Perceived Stress Scale(PSS)baseline,2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks(pre-treatment, after Session 2, 5, 10)

It is a 10-item, 5-point Likert scale(0 to 4) to measure the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful.The total score ranges from 0 to 40, with lower total scores representing a better outcome.

Change in Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)baseline,2 weeks,4 weeks to 8 weeks(pre-treatment, after Session 2, 5, 10)

It is an inventory of anxiety symptoms with 18 items that are rated on a 5-point Likert scale(0 to 4). Total scores range from 0 to 72, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety symptoms.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Shanghai Mental Health Center

🇨🇳

Shanghai, Shanghai, China

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