Prevention of Intrusive Memories and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms After Emergency Cesarean Section

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Acute Stress Disorder
• Interventions: Behavioral: Brief computerized intervention

• Registration Number: NCT02502513
• Lead Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

Brief Summary

This pilot study aims to investigate the effects of a brief computerized intervention (the computer game "Tetris") on intrusive memories and other posttraumatic stress symptoms following an emergency cesarean section. Patients who have undergone an emergency cesarian section will be randomly allocated to either the brief computerized intervention or usual care within the first 6 hours following the operation. Participants will be followed up at one week and one month. It is predicted that participants given the brief computerized intervention will develop fewer intrusive memories and less severe clinical symptoms than those who are not. This will inform the potential future development of a simple computerized intervention to prevent distressing psychological symptoms after a traumatic event such as an emergency cesarean section.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2013-06
• Study First Submitted: 2015-07-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-07-16
• Study First Posted: 2015-07-20
• Primary Completion: 2015-09
• Study Completion: 2015-10
• Status Verified: 2016-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2016-01-27
• Last Update Posted: 2016-01-28

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: Female
• Target Recruitment: 56

Inclusion Criteria

• Female, aged 18+ years
• Had emergency caesarean section within the past 6 hours
• Have given birth to a live baby at ≥ 37 weeks gestation

Exclusion Criteria

• Do not speak French sufficiently well to participate in assessments
• Have established intellectual disability or psychotic illness
• Baby was transferred to intensive care unit after the birth

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention	Brief computerized intervention	Brief computerized intervention (computer game "Tetris") plus usual care in the maternity department and completion of intrusive memory diary

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of intrusive memories recorded by participants in an intrusive memory diary in the week after the emergency cesarean section	1 week following the emergency cesarean section

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS)	1 month following the emergency cesarean section
Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS)	1 week following the emergency cesarean section
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)	1 week and 1 month following the emergency cesarean section

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Centre Hôpital Universitaire Vaudois; 🇨🇭 Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland