A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Virtual Reality-Graded Exposure Case Study

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Virtual Reality-Graded Exposure Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Active Duty Serv - Case Study Example Exposure therapy involves extended exposure, implosion therapy, flooding, and systematic desensitization among others. There are different approaches that have been used in the past to deal with the posttraumatic stress disorder which include VR therapy (virtual reality). This kind of therapy allows an individual to confront the past bad experience in a controlled and safe manner. The virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VR-GET) is another method of combating posttraumatic stress disorder. This method incorporates physiological monitoring in the earlier discussed VR therapy, it also include training. This is a documentation of a randomized trail, which include discussions on specific issues of posttraumatic stress disorder therapies trials in a military environment. This study was designed to investigate whether patients suffering from combat related posttraumatic stress disorder are likely to show significant improvement in virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VR-GET) than t he usual treatment. Methodology The study was a randomized trial of virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VR-GET) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PSTD) compared to the usual treatments. ... The assessors to determine eligible participants did screening and only participants who meet the requirements for the study were included. Qualified psychologists conducted therapies on patients treated in the early phase of the study and the therapies were done twice a week for every participant. This went on for a period of ten weeks. Participants were taught aspects of attention and meditation control in the first session of the therapy and the second session involved reviewing of the autonomic control and attentional training. The subsequent sessions that followed involved exposing the participants to VR stimulation of Afghanistan or Iraq most traumatic experiences. Some participants were assigned VR-GET whereas others were assigned TAU. The statistical analysis involved classifying the participants if the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) either reduced or did not reduce by thirty percent. The chi-square test with yattes correlation was used to compare the proportions of res pondents in VR-GET and TAU. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the categorical variables and t-test for comparing continuous variables. Analysis of variance was also used to examine groups and time changes in CAPS scores. Results, Discussions and Conclusion The study had twenty participants who met the inclusion criteria and ten were assigned the VR-GET while the remaining assigned TAU. Post treatment assessment was done after the ten weeks and one participant did not come back for this assessment. Seventy percent of the participants assigned VR-GET showed a 30% or more improvement. Less than 30% of the participants who were assigned TAU showed improvements. There was a wide variation in response to treatment with the VR-GET and TAU study