Mindfulness-Based Interventions for OCD

Summary

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe and debilitating anxiety disorder afflicting about 2% of the population. It is characterized by the presence of recurrent obsessions and/or compulsions that are time consuming and cause marked distress and/or impairment. Untreated, OCD runs a chronic and deteriorating course. According to the World Health Organization, OCD is among the top 10 leading causes of disability worldwide. Examination of non-medicinal treatments for OCD has focused on two distinct treatments: exposure and response prevention (ERP) and cognitive therapy (CT), often combined into an integrated cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT). CBT is considered the first line psychological treatment for OCD, with estimates of response rates of between 70-80%. However, there are a significant number of treatment non-responders and the majority of responders are still left with impairing residual symptoms. One area of investigation that has shown potential benefit for general mood and anxiety disorders has been mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), yet the potential benefits of MBIs in OCD has been largely unexamined, except for several small preliminary studies that show clinical promise. The purpose of this study is to examine the clinical benefits of a standardized MBI treatment for OCD in a large-scale, multi-site randomized controlled trial. The results of this study will directly determine whether Mindfulness can be considered an effective treatment for OCD. If this study can demonstrate that a short-term mindfulness intervention can significantly reduce the suffering associated with OCD, then the findings could easily be translated into routine clinical care in and out of hospital settings. Results of this study will also potentially add to our understanding of the mechanisms that drive OCD symptoms, improve our knowledge of psychological treatment mechanisms, and elucidate how biological factors influence psychological treatment outcomes.

Conditions

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Interventions

DEVICE

Muse

Muse is an EEG headset device created by Interaxxon to track brain waves during mindfulness sessions.

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), incorporating exposure/response prevention (ERP) and cognitive therapy, is considered the gold-standard treatment for OCD. The efficacy of CBT has been well established, with numerous studies demonstrating that it leads to significant and lasting reduction in OCD symptoms for the majority of completers.

BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) including MBCT, are interventions that incorporate formal and informal mindfulness practice in order to treat mental health concerns.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

  collaborator OTHER

• McMaster University

  collaborator OTHER

• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Neil A Rector, PhD · Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-11-09

Primary Completion

2026-03-31

Completion

2026-03-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations