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.
Diagnosis of OCD (F42) using currently valid DSM-V and ICD-11
Fluent in Czech
Any other psychiatric, neurological and serious somatic illness
Substance abuse
Psychotropic medication (e.g. benzodiazepines) except antidepressants, antipsychotic medication and hypnotics.
Contradictions to using a virtual reality (e.g., epilepsy, balance problems)
Single group
exposure therapy in virtual reality
BehavioralParticipants 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 interventionThe 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.
The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) self report version
The Y-BOCS is a 19-item scale assessing the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Raw score range from 0 to 40, where 0 = no symptoms and 40 = very severe symptoms with highly impaired daily functioning.
The Beck Depression Inventory
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a 21-item, self-report rating inventory that measures characteristic attitudes and symptoms of depression.
Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)
BAI is an inventory of anxiety symptoms with 18 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0-4). Score range from 0 to 72, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety symptoms.
Hierarchy of fears
Patients describe and rate their most feared situations or stimuli on a 10-point scale (1-10).
Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS)
The SUDS is a visual analog scale in which the participant rates his/her anxiety/discomfort based on a range between 1 (no anxiety/discomfort) and 10 (very severe anxiety/discomfort).
Adherence to exposures
Four questions aimed at gathering information about how patients managed to perform exposures during the past week and to what extent the skills acquired during the VR exposure therapy were useful.
The Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ)
The scale includes 3 subscales SP (spatial presence), INV (involvement) and REAL (experienced realism) with score range 0-7. Higher scores indication higher sense of presence. This measure might be positivelly associated with positive outcome.
Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ)
The scale evaluates cybersickness symptoms in three subscales: nausea (N), oculomotor disturbance (O), disorientation (D). Total simulator sickness raw score 0-48 (adjusted total score 0-180). Higher scores on each scale indicatestronger perceptions of the underlying sickness symptoms and aretherefore undesired. This measure might be negatively associated with positive outcome and sense of presence.
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
