Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Outpatients Trial

Sponsor
National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic
Study ID
NCT07206199
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 55 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • exposure therapy in virtual reality — BEHAVIORAL
    Participants complete five 30-40-minute sessions of exposure therapy administered via a virtual reality headset once a week. The exposure involves exposure to various symptom-provoking scenarios in the virtual house environment. Scenarios can be adjusted to distinct OCD dimensions: contamination/cleaning, fear-of-harm/checking symmetry/ordering, and also to symptoms of hoarding. Stimuli can be also freely combined across different dimensions, so that the scenarios fit the individual needs.
  • Wait list — OTHER
    The patients are assigned to a waitlist period for 5 weeks. During this period they are not allowed to change any treatment (phramacotherapy and/or psychoterapy as usual) started prior to the trial.

Study Details

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) as a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study focuses on patients receiving treatment in outpatient psychiatry or clinical psychology settings, utilizing a within-subject design for comparison. Patients first complete informed consent and baseline questionnaires and are placed on a waiting list for five weeks. After this period, they are reassigned to the active (experimental) group, which will receive five sessions of exposure therapy in virtual reality over a subsequent five-week period. The treatment effect will be evaluated using pre/post assessments, as well as monitoring adherence to exposure and response prevention assignments.

Key Dates

First listed
Oct 3, 2025
Start date
Mar 20, 2024
Status verified
Sep 2025
Primary completion
Dec 30, 2026
Completion
Mar 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: Within-subject comparison of a waiting list condition with exposure therapy in VR
    Patients first complete informed consent and baseline questionnaires and are placed on a waiting list for five weeks. After this period, they are reassigned to the active group, which receives five sessions of exposure therapy in virtual reality over a subsequent five-week period. The treatment effect will be evaluated using pre/post assessments, as well as monitoring adherence to exposure and response prevention assignments.

Primary Outcome Measure

The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) self report version [ Time Frame: Applied repeatedly: 1) Before the assignment to the waitlist condition, 2) After the waitlist period = Before the start of the first VRET therapy session, 3) After the last VRET session and 4) Follow-up 3 months after the last therapy session. ]

Central Contacts

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