TY - JOUR

T1 - Virtual reality-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with alcohol use disorder

T2 - a randomized feasibility study

AU - Thaysen-Petersen, Daniel

AU - Hammerum, Sigurd Krogh

AU - Vissing, Anne-Cathrine

AU - Oestrich, Irene Henriette

AU - Nordentoft, Merete

AU - Düring, Signe Wegmann

AU - Fink-Jensen, Anders

N1 - Copyright © 2024 Thaysen-Petersen, Hammerum, Vissing, Oestrich, Nordentoft, Düring and Fink-Jensen.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Exposure to high-risk situations in virtual reality (VR) has been suggested to have a potential therapeutical benefit, but no previous study has combined VR and CBT for AUD. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of using VR-simulated high-risk environments in CBT-based treatment of AUD.METHODS: We randomized ten treatment-seeking AUD-diagnosed individuals to three sessions of conventional CBT or VR-assisted CBT performed at two outpatient clinics in Denmark. In each session, patients randomized to VR-CBT were exposed to VR-simulations from a restaurant to induce authentic thoughts, emotions, physiological reactions, and craving for CBT purposes. The primary outcome measure was feasibility: Drop-out rate, psychological reactions, and simulator sickness. Secondary outcomes were assessment of preliminary short-term changes in alcohol consumption and craving from baseline to one-week and one-month follow-up. In addition, the study was conducted for training in operationalization of VR equipment, treatment manuals, and research questionnaires.RESULTS: The majority of patients completed all study visits (90%). VR induced authentic high-risk related thoughts, emotions, and physiological reactions that were considered relevant for CBT by patients and therapists. Four of five patients randomized to VR-CBT experienced cravings during VR simulations, and most of these patients (3/5) experienced mild simulator sickness during VR exposure. The preliminary data showed that patients receiving VR-CBT had more reduction in alcohol consumption than patients receiving conventional CBT at one week- (median 94% vs. 72%) and one-month follow-up (median 98% vs. 55%). Similar results were found regarding changes in cravings.CONCLUSION: We demonstrated VR-CBT to be a feasible intervention for patients with AUD which supports continued investigations in a larger randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of VR-CBT.CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04990765?cond=addiction%20CRAVR&rank=2, identifier NCT05042180.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Exposure to high-risk situations in virtual reality (VR) has been suggested to have a potential therapeutical benefit, but no previous study has combined VR and CBT for AUD. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of using VR-simulated high-risk environments in CBT-based treatment of AUD.METHODS: We randomized ten treatment-seeking AUD-diagnosed individuals to three sessions of conventional CBT or VR-assisted CBT performed at two outpatient clinics in Denmark. In each session, patients randomized to VR-CBT were exposed to VR-simulations from a restaurant to induce authentic thoughts, emotions, physiological reactions, and craving for CBT purposes. The primary outcome measure was feasibility: Drop-out rate, psychological reactions, and simulator sickness. Secondary outcomes were assessment of preliminary short-term changes in alcohol consumption and craving from baseline to one-week and one-month follow-up. In addition, the study was conducted for training in operationalization of VR equipment, treatment manuals, and research questionnaires.RESULTS: The majority of patients completed all study visits (90%). VR induced authentic high-risk related thoughts, emotions, and physiological reactions that were considered relevant for CBT by patients and therapists. Four of five patients randomized to VR-CBT experienced cravings during VR simulations, and most of these patients (3/5) experienced mild simulator sickness during VR exposure. The preliminary data showed that patients receiving VR-CBT had more reduction in alcohol consumption than patients receiving conventional CBT at one week- (median 94% vs. 72%) and one-month follow-up (median 98% vs. 55%). Similar results were found regarding changes in cravings.CONCLUSION: We demonstrated VR-CBT to be a feasible intervention for patients with AUD which supports continued investigations in a larger randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of VR-CBT.CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04990765?cond=addiction%20CRAVR&rank=2, identifier NCT05042180.

U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1337898

DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1337898

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38419905

VL - 15

JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry

JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry

SN - 1664-0640

M1 - 1337898

ER -