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Dexamethasone Plus Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for PTSD

NCT01965366 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE4 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 27

Last updated 2018-07-12

Study results available
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Summary

Evidence from preliminary studies suggests that people with PTSD have heightened fear responses and that cortisol suppression reduces this heightened fear. Research has shown the drug dexamethasone (DEX), a cortisol suppressor, reduces the startle response in civilians with PTSD. This current research proposal represents a blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled efficacy study with the goal of determining whether a drug that suppresses the stress hormone cortisol will increase the efficacy of exposure therapy. Specifically, it is proposed that a dose of DEX, given the night before (approximately 10 hours before) each of 5 to 11 individual virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy sessions, will significantly enhance the rate of response and possibly the efficacy of treatment. Participants will be treated until they have experienced at least a 70% reduction in PTSD symptoms from baseline or up to 12 sessions or until they and their therapist agree treatment should be terminated, a minimum of 6 sessions to a maximum of 12 sessions. Comprehensive multi-modal outcomes will be assessed by independent assessors blind to subject condition on interviews, self-report measures, and psychophysiological measures. Participants will be assessed pre- and post-treatment and at a follow-up of 3, 6 and 12 months to assess long term effects.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Virtual reality exposure therapy

Virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy is a form of exposure therapy in which participants are helped to confront their traumatic memories in a therapeutic manner. They describe the events out loud and their therapist attempts to match what they are describing in the virtual reality. This is done repeatedly, allowing distress associated with these memories to decrease. Material that emerges during the VRE exposure is processed, or discussed, after the exposure, allowing participants to think about themselves and the event differently.

DRUG

0.5 mg DEX

A dose of DEX will be given the night before (approximately 10 hours before) each of 5 to 11 individual virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Emory University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D. · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
21 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2013-10-31
Primary Completion
2017-03-31
Completion
2017-06-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01965366 on ClinicalTrials.gov