Exposure Therapy For Veterans With PTSD And Panic Attacks

VA Office of Research and Development

Status: Completed

Conditions: PTSD; Panic Attacks

Treatments: Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy; Behavioral: Multiple Channel Exposure Therapy - Veterans

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT01033136

CDA2-012-09F

Details and patient eligibility

About

To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of Multiple Channel Exposure Therapy-Veterans (MCET-V) as a treatment for returning service members with comorbid PTSD and panic disorder (PD). This study will examine the effectiveness of MCET-V by comparing it to Cognitive Processing Therapy, a standard PTSD treatment.

Full description

With the increasing number of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) Veterans returning from war-zone areas, many will experience anxiety disorders such as PTSD and comorbid problems. Currently, about one in every six OIF/OEF Veterans experiences PTSD and co-occurring PD. Although effective treatments exist for treating one or the other, we do not yet have treatments that can simultaneously target PTSD and PD. Thus, recent attention has focused on the development of multi-component treatments that simultaneously address PTSD and PD. This study is the first systematic investigation of a time-limited, multi-component cognitive-behavioral treatment for Veterans with specific comorbid anxiety problems. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the multi-component cognitive-behavioral treatment in comparison to standard PTSD treatment in military personnel returning from active duty.

Enrollment: 93 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• being a Veteran of any era;
• being enrolled in the TRP at the MEDVAMC, with a current diagnosis of PTSD and PD;
• being stable on psychotropic medication for 4 weeks before study participation; and
• being at least 18 years of age.

Exclusion criteria

• active substance dependence, or bipolar or psychotic disorders;
• severe depression and [active suicidal ideation and intent] (based on ADIS-IV & BDI-II);
• cognitive impairment as indicated by the SLUMS; and
• Veterans currently receiving psychosocial treatment specifically targeting PTSD or panic symptoms.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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93 participants in 2 patient groups

MCET-V

Experimental group

Description:

Multiple Channel Exposure Therapy -Veterans (MCET-V) is a 12-session cognitive-behavioral treatment for persons with comorbid PTSD and panic attacks. It is an integrated treatment designed to target panic and PTSD symptoms simultaneously.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Multiple Channel Exposure Therapy - Veterans

CPT

Active Comparator group

Description:

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a 12-session cognitive-behavioral treatment for persons with PTSD. It is a gold-standard cognitive behavioral intervention designed to target PTSD symptoms.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy