Adults 18 to 45, any sex, with Phobias Snakes or Phobias Spiders. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.
Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov
Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.
Spider PhobiaPrimary· Change in score on Fear of Spiders questionnaire from baseline to post-treatment, at one month follow-up
Fear of spiders / severity of phobia will be measured via the Fear of Spiders questionnaire in order to determine how treatment has impacted the fear.
The fear of spiders questionnaire is 18 items scored on a scale from 1-7, for a low score of 18 and a high score of 126. Total score is calculated by adding all items together. Higher scores are indicative of greater fear of spiders.
Baseline Score
Group
Value
95% CI
AR Therapy Intervention for Spider Phobia
104
± 10.8
No Treatment Control Group for Spider Phobia
111
± 11.7
Post Treatment Score
Group
Value
95% CI
AR Therapy Intervention for Spider Phobia
43.2
± 22.5
No Treatment Control Group for Spider Phobia
102
± 18.4
Behavioral Approach Test--Ability to Confront PhobiaSecondary· Change in score on Behavioral Approach Test from baseline to post-treatment, at one month follow-up
A measure of the closest distance the patient can have to the feared object. Scored from 0-12 based on distance away in meters from feared object and interaction with feared object. The score is given based on participant interaction, therefore one value is chosen. Higher values closer to 12 show greater comfortability and ability to interact with the feared object.
Baseline Distance
Group
Value
95% CI
AR Therapy Intervention for Spider Phobia
6.27
± 2.26
No Treatment Control Group for Spider Phobia
7.5
± 5.16
Post Treatment Distance
Group
Value
95% CI
AR Therapy Intervention for Spider Phobia
0
± 0
No Treatment Control Group for Spider Phobia
6
± 3.03
Spider Phobia--additional MeasureSecondary· Change in score on Spider Phobia questionnaire from baseline to post-treatment, at one month follow-up
The Spider Phobia questionnaire is a 31 item questionnaire with yes or no responses. All items are added together for a total score. 9 items are reverse scored. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 31. Higher scores are indicative of more severe phobia. This questionnaire will serve as an additional measure of spider phobia to the primary outcome measure.
Baseline Score
Group
Value
95% CI
AR Therapy Intervention for Spider Phobia
20.4
± 4.25
No Treatment Control Group for Spider Phobia
25.7
± 3.23
Post Treatment Score
Group
Value
95% CI
AR Therapy Intervention for Spider Phobia
11.1
± 5.69
No Treatment Control Group for Spider Phobia
24.9
± 3.14
Sponsor's own description
In this patented project, U.S. Patent No. 10,839,707, the investigators will develop an augmented reality exposure therapy method for arachnophobia, and fear of snakes, to test in the clinic. The platform will include a software that allows the clinician (psychiatrist/therapist) to position virtual objects in the real environment of the patient with the above mentioned phobias while the patient is wearing the augmented reality (AR) device. Then the clinician will lead the patient through steps of exposure therapy to the fear objects. The investigators will then measure the impact of treatment and compare to before treatment measures of fear of the phobic object.
Exposure therapy is the most evidence-based treatment for specific phobias, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The core principle is patient's exposure to the feared objects/situations guided by a clinician. For example, in arachnophobia, patient is exposed to pictures of spiders printed or on a computer screen- or if available, view of a real tarantula in the office. Gradually, patient tolerates viewing/approaching the spider from a closer distance, and fear response extinguishes. The clinician has a crucial role in signaling safety to the patient, as well as providing support and coaching. This treatment is limited by multiple factors: 1) limited access to feared objects/situations in the clinic, 2) even when feared objects are available, they are not diverse (e.g. different types and colors of spiders), which limits generalization of safety learning, 3) when available, clinician has very limited control over behaviors of the feared objects (e.g. spider/snake), 4) safety learning is limited to the clinic office context, and contextualization of safety learning to real life experiences is left to the patient to do alone, which often does not happen. This is specifically important in conditions such as PTSD, where there is cumulative evidence for impaired contextualization as a key neurobiological underpinning. 5) Lack of geographical access to experts in exposure therapy, especially for PTSD, in rural areas.
Publications & conference data
No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.
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Sponsor: as reported to ClinicalTrials.gov by Wayne State University
Last refreshed: 19 April 2022
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