Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Combat (VRET)

Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Status: Unknown

Conditions: PTSD

Treatments: Behavioral: Prolonged Exposure; Behavioral: Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03000478

BIU201216

Details and patient eligibility

About

This non inferiority trial will compare Prolonged Exposure with Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy in adult patients with combat related PTSD.

Full description

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects a significant number of combat soldiers, with some studies suggesting 20% have PTSD. PTSD is related to a number of other detrimental effects, on the individual, such as mood disorders and alcohol abuse, on family members, and on society at large. Although effective treatments for PTSD exist, primarily types of cognitive behavior therapy, their uptake is very low. Studies have shown that a variety of factors act as barriers to care. These include not having the time for therapy, no therapy being locally available, and general stigma about therapy. In military populations, this stigma includes worries about the attitudes of unit members and commanding officers. As a result, many combat veterans do not seek therapy. Recently, it has been suggested that providing therapy in non-conventional settings might overcome some of these barriers. Studies over the last decade have shown that using Virtual Reality is a potential option. Virtual reality is a computer based environment that allows the therapist complete control over its multimedia components. VR is easily adaptable to exposure based treatments, where patients gradually come into contact with feared situations. VR for PTSD following combat, terror and motor vehicle accidents have all shown to be effective treatments. The studies so far are few, involve a small number of patients, and have often not adhered to gold standards of controlled trials. In addition, VR for combat in Israel has never been developed or tested.

The current study is a randomized controlled trial, that will compare traditional face-to-face treatment with Virtual Reality, for combat related PTSD. Blind assessors will examine levels of PTSD and other disorders before treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 6 month follow up.

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• combat related PTSD; Hebrew first language

Exclusion criteria

• suicidality, other psychiatric diagnosis requiring treatment, concurrent treatment,

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Prolonged Exposure

Active Comparator group

Description:

12 sessions of PE as per protocol

Treatment:

Behavioral: Prolonged Exposure

VRET

Experimental group

Description:

12 sessions of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Treatment:

Behavioral: Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy