Virtual Reality for Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia
- Conditions
- Panic; Agoraphobia
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Virtual Reality cognitive behavior therapy
- Registration Number
- NCT03101332
- Lead Sponsor
- Karolinska Institutet
- Brief Summary
Panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) is associated with considerable personal distress, functional disability and societal costs. A large number of studies have shown that Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is a highly effective treatment for PDA. However, the CBT-protocols proven to be most effective involves repeated exposure to the particular environments the agoraphobic patient fears such as trains, tunnels, lifts and shops. This cause great practical problems for health care services as such therapeutic efforts involves spending considerable time outside the clinic. For primary care services this is particularly challenging due to the large number of patients expected to be seen. Normally clinicians meet up to 7 patients daily which makes it almost practically impossible to offer 2-hour sessions, which is necessary to carry out the relevant exposure tasks. Hence, the treatment proven to be most effective, which primary care services are commissioned to deliver, is too comprehensive and time consuming to be applied in real practice.
The investigators believe that a possible solution to the above problem is to provide evidence-based CBT but with the exposure components carried out through Virtual Reality (VR) rather than in vivo. Some research has already been done with virtual reality and exposure therapy for anxiety disorders with promising results. The aim of this pilot study is to treat patients with agoraphobia with or with a history of panic disorder with a standardized exposure-based CBT-protocol through VR. The virtual environments that are used for the study are live sequences filmed in 360°. The investigators hypothesize that CBT with VR will be effective and lead to improvements on measures of panic disorder and agoraphobia.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 12
Not provided
Not provided
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- SINGLE_GROUP
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description VR-CBT Virtual Reality cognitive behavior therapy Virtual Reality cognitive behavior therapy. 10-12 sessions of individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy with exposure tasks carried out through Virtual Reality.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Mobility Inventory Baseline, post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, 12-month follow-up Change at post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, and 12 month follow-up compared to baseline
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Patient Health Questionnaire Baseline, post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, 12-month follow-up Change at post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, and 12 month follow-up compared to baseline
The World Health Organisation Quality of Life Baseline, post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, 12-month follow-up Change at post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, and 12 month follow-up compared to baseline
Panic disorder severity scale Baseline, post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, 12-month follow-up Change at post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, and 12 month follow-up compared to baseline
World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule Baseline, post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, 12-month follow-up Change at post-treatment (10 weeks), 6-month follow-up, and 12 month follow-up compared to baseline
Trial Locations
- Locations (2)
Gustavsberg primary care center
🇸🇪Gustavsberg, Stockholm, Sweden
Karolinska Institutet
🇸🇪Stockholm, Sweden