NCT03711760

Telepsychology in Spinal Cord Injury

Completed NA Last updated 25 November 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing telepsychology in Spinal Cord Injuries in 75 participants. Completed in 21 August 2024.

Timeline

1 April 2019

Primary endpoint
21 August 2024

21 August 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	75
Start date	1 April 2019
Primary completion	21 August 2024
Estimated completion	21 August 2024
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• telepsychology

Conditions studied

• Spinal Cord Injuries — all drugs for Spinal Cord Injuries →
• Depression — all drugs for Depression →

Sponsor

Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Spinal Cord Injuries or Depression. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

This study will determine the effectiveness of tele-psychology in treating persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) with depressed mood in the early period post-rehabilitation discharge. Depression among individuals with SCI is the most common psychological condition following an injury; 22% of civilians with SCI and 28% of veterans with SCI experience depression after injury, which is higher than the able-bodied population (Williams 2015; Ullrich 2014). Individuals with SCI face many barriers in receiving psychotherapy, such as lack of accessible transportation, unfamiliarity with community resources, or stigma associated with seeking treatment for depression, which this project aims to address. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), which helps people develop different ways of thinking and behaving to reduce their psychological distress, will be provided via iPad FaceTime by a psychologist with expertise in working with persons with SCI.

The objectives of the proposed project are to reduce depressive symptoms, decrease associated symptoms of anxiety, and to improve satisfaction with life with CBT provided via tele-psychology. The secondary objective is to show intermediate efficacy of tele-psychology in persons with SCI with depressed mood.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Telepsychology for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury: Protocol for a Randomized Control Study of Video-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
   Pasipanodya E, Khong CM, Dirlikov B, Prutton M, et al · · 2022 · cited 4× · PMID 36457360 · DOI 10.46292/sci22-00010
2. Characterizing Concerns and Stressors During Subacute Spinal Cord Injury: A Thematic Analysis of Psychotherapy Session Notes.
   Pasipanodya EC, Gopalan R, Truong PT, Khong CM, et al · · 2025 · PMID 40463780 · DOI 10.1016/j.arrct.2024.100410