Clinical trial NCT01361074: In Vivo Versus Augmented Reality Exposure for Small Animal Phobia
Official title: In Vivo Versus Augmented Reality Exposure for Small Animal Phobia Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Phobic Disorders
Keywords: Virtual reality
Augmented reality
In vivo exposure
One session treatment
ICT
Efficacy
Specific phobia
Anxiety disorders
Lead sponsor: Universitat Jaume I
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Valencia
First posted: 2011-05-26
Enrollment: 60
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The aim of this study is to explore the differential efficacy of in vivo exposure versus augmented reality exposure in the treatment of specific phobia (small animals).

The hypothesis is: There will not be significant statistical differences in the efficacy of in vivo exposure therapy versus augmented reality exposure in the treatment of specific phobia (small animals).

Detailed description: Among anxiety disorders, specific phobias are highly prevalent (around 7.2% and 11.3% in the general population). Cockroach or spider phobia is a type of specific phobia, animal type. The gold standard for the treatment of specific phobia (included small animal phobia) is in vivo exposure. Most phobia sufferers (60-80%) never seek treatment. Besides, not all patients benefit from in vivo exposure, given that an important amount of them do not accept the intervention or drop out (around 25%) when they are informed about the intervention procedure.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are pioneer applications that can improve treatment adherence and acceptance. There exist some studies offering preliminary evidence of the efficacy of AR for the treatment of small animal phobia. However, there are not any controlled study exploring the differential efficacy of ICT-based exposure interventions versus in vivo exposure. In the present study the differential efficacy of AR exposure versus in vivo exposure for the treatment of small animal phobia is explored with a between subject randomized controlled trial. A pre-treatment assessment will be conducted in order to establish the diagnosis and evaluate the main outcome measures. All participants will receive an intensive exposure session following Öst guidelines, (in vivo exposure in one experimental condition and AR exposure in the other experimental condition). After the treatment a post-treatment assessment will be carried out as well as follow-up assessments at 3- and 12-month after treatment completion.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Be between 18-65 years of age.
* To meet current DSM-IV-TR criteria for specific phobia (animal type)
* Have as the major presenting complaint anxiety in, and avoidance of, a large range of situations involving spiders or cockroaches.
* A minimum of 1 year duration of the phobia.
* To have scores over 4 in phobic avoidance (on a scale of 0 to 8).
* Express a willingness to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* To be able to put a hand inside the container with a spider or cockroach during the behavioral test.
* Have other psychiatric problem in immediate need of treatment.
* Have psychotic or organic symptoms.
* Have heart or lung disease.
* Current alcohol or drug dependence or medication.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT, Öst, Salkovskis, and Hellström's, 1991) at pre, post intervention and 3 and 12-month follow-up periods
timeFrame: At pre (baseline), post intervention and 3 and 12-month follow-up periods
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Spider Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire (SPBQ; adapted from Arntz, Lavy, Van der Berg, & Van Rijsoort, 1993) at pre, post intervention and 3 and 12-month follow-up periods
timeFrame: At pre (baseline), post intervention and 3 and 12-month follow-up periods
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Castellon
country: Spain
facility: University Jaume I
city: Castellón
country: Spain
facility: University Jaume I
Study officials:
affiliation: University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain.
name: Cristina Botella, Full Professor
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain
name: Cristina Botella, Full Professor
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Botella C, Breton-Lopez J, Quero S, Banos R, Garcia-Palacios A. Treating cockroach phobia with augmented reality. Behav Ther. 2010 Sep;41(3):401-13. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2009.07.002. Epub 2010 Mar 20.
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citation: Garcia-Palacios A, Botella C, Hoffman H, Fabregat S. Comparing acceptance and refusal rates of virtual reality exposure vs. in vivo exposure by patients with specific phobias. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2007 Oct;10(5):722-4. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2007.9962.
citation: Garcia-Palacios A, Hoffman HG, See SK, Tsai A, Botella C. Redefining therapeutic success with virtual reality exposure therapy. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2001 Jun;4(3):341-8. doi: 10.1089/109493101300210231.
citation: Marks IM, Mathews AM. Brief standard self-rating for phobic patients. Behav Res Ther. 1979;17(3):263-7. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(79)90041-x. No abstract available.
citation: Botella CM, Juan MC, Banos RM, Alcaniz M, Guillen V, Rey B. Mixing realities? An application of augmented reality for the treatment of cockroach phobia. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2005 Apr;8(2):162-71. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.162.
citation: Juan MC, Alcaniz M, Monserrat C, Botella C, Banos RM, Guerrero B. Using augmented reality to treat phobias. IEEE Comput Graph Appl. 2005 Nov-Dec;25(6):31-7. doi: 10.1109/mcg.2005.143. No abstract available.
citation: Ost LG. One-session treatment for specific phobias. Behav Res Ther. 1989;27(1):1-7. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(89)90113-7.
citation: Ost LG. [One-session treatment of specific phobias--a rapid and effective method]. Lakartidningen. 1988 Mar 30;85(13):1139-42. No abstract available. Swedish.