Prolonged Exposure (PE) for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Telemedicine Versus In Person

PTSD Clinical Trial

Official title:

Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD: Telemedicine vs. In Person

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01102764
• Other study ID #: IAC 09-040
• Secondary ID: 19695
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 2010
• Est. completion date: September 2015

Study information

• Verified date: November 2018
• Source: VA Office of Research and Development
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The present proposal is to study whether Prolonged Exposure (PE) delivered via Telemedicine is as effective as PE delivered In Person for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Veterans and Veterans of all theatres, particularly Vietnam era with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). ).

Description:

Project Background/Rationale: Approximately 15 to 17% of current Iraq war Veterans meet full diagnostic criteria for MH problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Hoge et al., 2004). Prolonged Exposure (PE) is an empirically supported treatment for PTSD (Foa 1997; Schnurr et al., 2007), and has been adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DOVA) as one of the treatments of choice for the disorder, as evident by the DOVA-sponsored national training of clinicians to use PE. It is therefore important to employ treatment delivery methods that maximize the likelihood that all Veterans in need, including Veterans residing in rural settings, and Veterans who avoid DOVA settings due to the stigma of receiving mental health treatment, will receive interventions such as PE. The May, 2005 Committee on Veterans Affairs, Subcommittee on Health has identified Telemedicine as a DOVA priority area to address this need. The present proposal is to study whether PE delivered via Telemedicine is as effective as PE delivered In Person. Telemedicine has been chosen for its ability to overcome what appear to be two major barriers to mental health care (Frueh et al., 2000): the difficulty that rural-residing Veterans face in reaching VAMC facilities, and the stigma Veterans perceive related to receiving mental health treatment. Indeed, if effective, PE delivered via telemedicine may address the problem inherent in the finding that 42% of those screening positive for PTSD indicate that they are interested in receiving help, but only 25% actually receive services (Hoge, et al., 2006).

Project Objectives: Although effective treatments for PTSD exist and have been adopted by the Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC), barriers to care of a social (e.g., stigma) and geographic (e.g., rural) nature prevent many Veterans in need from receiving care. Telemedicine might address this need. The major objective of this study is to determine if PE delivered via Telemedicine is as effective as In Person PE in terms of (1) clinical; (2) process; and (3) economic outcomes.

Project Methods: The investigators propose to use a randomized between groups repeated measures (baseline, post-treatment, 3& 6-month followups) design with 226 OIF-OEF Veterans diagnosed with PTSD to assess the relative effectiveness, measured in terms of symptoms, patient satisfaction, and costs, of PE delivered via Telemedicine vs. In Person formats. The investigators hypothesize that no differences (i.e., non-inferiority) between the two formats will be evident in terms treatment gains, patient satisfaction, treatment attrition, patient satisfaction and direct health care costs.

Anticipated Impacts on Veterans Health care: This study will provide important information regarding whether PE delivered via home-based Telemedicine equipment is as effective as traditional In Person delivery of PE for post-traumatic stress disorder. If shown to be as effective as In Person treatment, a new, innovative, and cost effective intervention delivery system for PTSD will have initial empirical support.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 150
• Est. completion date: September 2015
• Est. primary completion date: June 2015
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 21 Years to 99 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Participants will be 226 male and female:

• Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF OEF) Veterans, and Veterans of all theatres, particularly Vietnam era Veterans.

• age 21 and above, and

• diagnosed via structured clinical interview with PTSD

Exclusion Criteria:

• Actively psychotic or demented persons,

• individuals with both suicidal ideation and clear intent, and

• individuals meeting full criteria for substance dependence will be excluded from participation

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• PTSD
• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Telemedicine
Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy provided at patients house via telemedicine
• In Person
PE therapy delivered in person at the VAMC

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC	Charleston	South Carolina

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
VA Office of Research and Development	University of Hawaii, University of Pennsylvania

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (20)

Acierno R, Gros DF, Morland L, Greene C, Strachan MK, Egede LE, Tuerk PW, Frueh BC, Myrick H. Delivery of evidence-based psychotherapy via video telehealth. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment. 2013 Dec 1; 35(4):506-521.

Acierno R, Gros DF, Ruggiero KJ, Hernandez-Tejada BM, Knapp RG, Lejuez CW, Muzzy W, Frueh CB, Egede LE, Tuerk PW. BEHAVIORAL ACTIVATION AND THERAPEUTIC EXPOSURE FOR POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: A NONINFERIORITY TRIAL OF TREATMENT DELIVERED IN PERSON VER — View Citation

Acierno RE. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder in veterans of Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom in comparison with those veterans of other conflicts. Military Behavioral Health. 2016 Apr 25; 4(4):383-389.

Badour CL, Gros DF, Szafranski DD, Acierno R. Problems in sexual functioning among male OEF/OIF veterans seeking treatment for posttraumatic stress. Compr Psychiatry. 2015 Apr;58:74-81. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.12.012. Epub 2014 Dec 30. — View Citation

Gros DF, Gros K, Acierno R, Frueh BC, Moreland L. Relation between treatment satisfaction and treatment outcome in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment. 2013 Jun 28; 35(4):522-30.

Gros DF, Price M, Strachan M, Yuen EK, Milanak ME, Acierno R. Behavioral activation and therapeutic exposure: an investigation of relative symptom changes in PTSD and depression during the course of integrated behavioral activation, situational exposure, and imaginal exposure techniques. Behav Modif. 2012 Jul;36(4):580-99. doi: 10.1177/0145445512448097. Epub 2012 Jun 7. — View Citation

Gros DF, Price M, Yuen EK, Acierno R. Predictors of completion of exposure therapy in OEF/OIF veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Depress Anxiety. 2013 Nov;30(11):1107-13. doi: 10.1002/da.22207. Epub 2013 Oct 21. — View Citation

Hernandez-Tejada MA, Zoller JS, Ruggiero KJ, Kazley AS, Acierno R. Early treatment withdrawal from evidence-based psychotherapy for PTSD: telemedicine and in-person parameters. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2014;48(1):33-55. doi: 10.2190/PM.48.1.d. — View Citation

Hershenberg R, Paulson D, Gros DF, Acierno R. Does Amount and Type of Activity Matter in Behavioral Activation? A Preliminary Investigation of the Relationship between Pleasant, Functional, and Social Activities and Outcome. Behav Cogn Psychother. 2015 Ju — View Citation

Korte KJ, Allan NP, Gros DF, Acierno R. Differential treatment response trajectories in individuals with subclinical and clinical PTSD. J Anxiety Disord. 2016 Mar;38:95-101. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.01.006. Epub 2016 Jan 21. — View Citation

Paul LA, Gros DF, Strachan M, Worsham G, Foa EB, Acierno R. Prolonged Exposure for Guilt and Shame in a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Am J Psychother. 2014 Sep 1;68(3):277-286. — View Citation

Pelton D, Wangelin B, Tuerk P. Utilizing Telehealth to Support Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder in a Theater of War: Prolonged Exposure via Clinical Videoconferencing. Telemed J E Health. 2015 May;21(5):382-7. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2014.0111. Epub 2015 Mar 12. — View Citation

Price M, Gros DF, Strachan M, Ruggiero KJ, Acierno R. The Role of Social Support in Exposure Therapy for Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom Veterans: A Preliminary Investigation. Psychol Trauma. 2013 Jan 1;5(1):93-100. — View Citation

Price M, Kuhn E, Hoffman JE, Ruzek J, Acierno R. Comparison of the PTSD Checklist (PCL) Administered via a Mobile Device Relative to a Paper Form. J Trauma Stress. 2015 Oct;28(5):480-3. doi: 10.1002/jts.22037. Epub 2015 Sep 16. — View Citation

Soltis K, Acierno R, Gros DF, Yoder M, Tuerk PW. Post-traumatic stress disorder: ethical and legal relevance to the criminal justice system. J Law Med Ethics. 2014 Summer;42(2):147-54. doi: 10.1111/jlme.12130. — View Citation

Strachan M, Gros DF, Yuen E, Ruggiero KJ, Foa EB, Acierno R. Home-based telehealth to deliver evidence-based psychotherapy in veterans with PTSD. Contemp Clin Trials. 2012 Mar;33(2):402-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2011.11.007. Epub 2011 Nov 11. — View Citation

Tuerk PW, Wangelin B, Rauch SA, Dismuke CE, Yoder M, Myrick H, Eftekhari A, Acierno R. Health service utilization before and after evidence-based treatment for PTSD. Psychol Serv. 2013 Nov;10(4):401-9. doi: 10.1037/a0030549. Epub 2012 Nov 12. — View Citation

Tuerk PW. Starting from something: augmenting exposure therapy and methods of inquiry. Am J Psychiatry. 2014 Oct;171(10):1034-7. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14070880. — View Citation

Yuen EK, Gros DF, Price M, Zeigler S, Tuerk PW, Foa EB, Acierno R. Randomized Controlled Trial of Home-Based Telehealth Versus In-Person Prolonged Exposure for Combat-Related PTSD in Veterans: Preliminary Results. J Clin Psychol. 2015 Jun;71(6):500-12. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22168. Epub 2015 Mar 25. — View Citation

Zhang J, Sheerin C, Mandel H, Banducci AN, Myrick H, Acierno R, Amstadter AB, Wang Z. Variation in SLC1A1 is related to combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. J Anxiety Disord. 2014 Dec;28(8):902-7. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.09.013. Epub 2014 Oct 5. — View Citation

* Note: There are 20 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Treatment Completion	The major objective of this study is to determine if PE delivered via Telemedicine is as effective as In Person PE in terms of (1) clinical (PTSD and Depression); (2) process (Treatment Satisfaction and Attrition); and (3) economic (Cost) outcomes. Per protocol, participants could have as many as 12 treatment sessions. Per protocol treatment completers completed at least 6 90-minute sessions of Prolonged Exposure either In Person or via Telemedicine. Treatment dropout is defined as initiating treatment but completing fewer than 6 sessions.	13 weeks
Primary	PTSD Checklist-Military (PCL-M)	PTSD Checklist-Military (PCL-M): The PCL is a 17 Item Self Report Measure of PTSD Symptoms Based on the DSM-IV Criteria. The PCL uses a 5-point Likert scale response format ranging from not at all to frequently. The instrument is highly correlated with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (r = .93), has good diagnostic efficiency (> .70), and robust psychometrics with a variety of trauma populations (Blanchard, 1996), including combat veterans (Magruder, Frueh, et al, 2005). Total scores on the PCL range from 17 to 85, with lower scores indicating less symptom severity.	26 weeks
Primary	Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)	Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II): (BDI; Beck et al., 1961): The BDI-II is a 21-item self-report scale, is among the most widely used instruments to measure depression. Beck and Steer (1984) demonstrated that the BDI-I has high internal consistency (a = .86 - .91). Lower scores indicate less symptom severity, and higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms. Raw scores of 0-13 indicates minimal depression; 14-19 indicates mild depression; 20-28 indicates moderate depression; 29-63 indicates severe depression. The lowest possible score on this measure is 0, and the highest possible score is 63.	26 weeks
Secondary	Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV (CAPS IV)	The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) is a structured interview designed to make a categorical PTSD diagnosis, as well as to provide a measure of PTSD symptom severity. The structure corresponds to the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD diagnoses, with B, C, and D symptoms rated for both frequency and intensity; these two scores (frequency + intensity) are summed to provide severity ratings. Additional questions assess Criteria A, E, and F. It is recommended that the "1, 2" rule be used to determine whether a symptom meets criteria; that is, a frequency score of at least 1 (scale 0 = "none of the time" to 4 = "most or all of the time") and an intensity score of at least 2 (scale 0 = "none" to 4 = "extreme") is required for a particular symptom to meet criteria. Total scores from B, C and D range from 0 to 136, with lower scores indicating better outcomes, and higher scores indicating worse outcomes.	26 weeks
Secondary	Deployment Risk and Resiliency Inventory (DRRI)	The DRRI is collection of self-report measures assessing 14 key deployment-related risk and resilience factors with demonstrated implications for veterans' long-term health. With the nature of military deployment changing, with a larger proportion of women, National Guard and Reserves being deployed for more contemporary conflicts, the DRRI was developed to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the current combat-related experiences. The DRRI is made up of multiple scales to represent different constructs. Responses are either dichotomous (0=No, 1=Yes), polytomous (0=No, 1=Not Sure, 2=Yes), or recorded on a 4, 5 or 6 point Likert scales. Scores for each section are summed are contain scoring ranges. Higher scores are indicative of worse outcomes.	Week 0
Secondary	Health Related Functioning: Medical Outcome Study (MOS) Short Study Forms-36 Health Survey (SF 36)	The MOS SF-36 is an indicator of overall health status. It consists of eight scaled scores, which are the weighted sums of the questions in their section. Each of the eight summed scores is linearly transformed onto a scale from 0 (negative health) to 100 (positive health) to provide a score for each subscale. Therefore, lower scores indicate more disability while higher scores indicate less disability. Each subscale can be used independently. Sections of the SF-36 include: vitality, physical functioning, bodily pain, general health perceptions, physical role functioning, emotional role functioning, social role functioning and mental health.	26 weeks
Secondary	Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale (CPOSS-VA)	The CPOSS is a 16-item measure, with a Likert scale response format, based on a general measure of patient satisfaction. Extant data demonstrate that the measure has excellent reliability (alpha = 0.96) and good convergent validity with relevant anchor items ("would you recommend this treatment to a friend or family member?"). Items are scored using a 5 point Likert scale (5=excellent; 4=very good; 3=good; 2=fair; 1=poor). The scale is scored by summing the scores of all individual items. The possible range is 16 to 80, with higher scores indicating higher satisfaction.	14 weeks
Secondary	Treatment Credibility	This measures assesses for differences in outcome expectancy. The Treatment Credibility Scale (as used in this study) contains 4 questions. Each question is scored individually via 10-point Likert scales. Questions asses how logical treatment seems, how confident participants are about treatment, and expectations of success and is administered at treatment session 4. Scores on treatment logicality, confidence and predicted success on each question range from 1 (not at all) to 10 (very logical), with mid-range scores indicating moderate logicality, confidence and predicted success.	4 weeks
Secondary	Service Delivery Perceptions Questionnaire	This measure is used to assess Veterans' perceptions about variables specifically related to this mode of service delivery (e.g., the quality of communication, ease of use, and willingness to use treatment via videoconferencing in the future). There are 8 questions (1 question was not assessed due to asking about group participation which is irrelevant to the current study). All questions are answered via a 5 point Likert scale, with 1 indicating poor perceptions and 5 indicating excellent perceptions. Scores range from 7-35, with higher scores indicating more positive outcomes.	26 weeks
Secondary	Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I)	The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) is a semistructured interview to determine whether an individual meets criteria for any Axis I disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (version IV). The SCID is broken down into separate modules corresponding to categories of diagnoses, and uses skip logic to allow the interviewer to skip questions or modules if certain diagnostic criteria are indicated. Most sections begin with an entry question that would allow the interviewer to "skip" the associated questions if not met. For all diagnoses symptoms are coded as present, subthreshold, or absent. It assesses for both current and lifetime diagnoses and prompts the interviewer to document age of illness onset and to rate current illness severity (Glasofer et al., 2015).	26 weeks
Secondary	Prior Experience With Computer and Audiovisual Technology	The Prior Experience With Technology questionnaire is an 8-item short measure to learn more about participants' prior experiences and comfort level with computers and audiovisual technology. For 8 different technological devices, the measure asks if the participant has the device in his/her home (i.e. Is there a telephone in your home)? Subsequent questions determine whether the patient is comfortable using that device or, if he/she does not own one, if he/she would be willing to learn to use one. Devices assessed include telephone, television, stereo, video player (e.g. VCR, DVD), computer, internet, e-mail, and audiovisual conferencing technology. These data may help identify whether these variables are associated with clinical outcome.	Week 0

External Links

•   Click here for more information about this study: Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD: Telemedicine vs. In Person