NHS COVID-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experimental treatment trial

Evaluating a brief novel treatment for COVID-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Health and Social Care workforce: a pre-RCT preparatory study

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN52834682

Enrollment

Registered

2023-10-16

Start date

2023-11-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2023-10-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

We are using a novel therapy called Fast Imagery Reversal Script for Trauma-release (FIRST) which is a possible new treatment for PTSD. FIRST draws on NLP (neurolinguistic programming) approaches and

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Adults > = 18 years 2. Working in NHS Trusts, Primary Care or Social Care between 1st March 2020 and 31st March 2021 covering the three UK waves of the pandemic. 3. Prior, or new, diagnosis of PTSD determined by a PCL-5 score > 32. Confirmed by the Staff Counselling and Wellbeing Service or Post-Incident Pathway, within SLaM.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Currently receiving psychological treatment for PTSD. 2. Not able to provide informed consent. 3. Unwilling to consent to video-recording of therapy sessions for supervisory purposes.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
To understand the feasibility and acceptability of FIRST therapy for HSCWs and MHPs. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed via the qualitative exit interviews and will answer these questions: 1. Will HSCWs present for, commence and complete FIRST therapy. 2. Do HSCWs find FIRST therapy and referral processes acceptable. 3. Do they find the proposed outcome measures acceptable to consent to and complete? 4. Are research procedures acceptable? 5. How do the therapists (MHPs) experience (i) delivering FIRST and (ii) to HSCWs colleagues. The exit interviews will take place at four weeks’ post end-of-therapy delivery and qualitative content analysis will be applied to the data.	—

Measure

Time frame

To understand the feasibility and acceptability of FIRST therapy for HSCWs and MHPs. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed via the qualitative exit interviews and will answer these questions: 1. Will HSCWs present for, commence and complete FIRST therapy. 2. Do HSCWs find FIRST therapy and referral processes acceptable. 3. Do they find the proposed outcome measures acceptable to consent to and complete? 4. Are research procedures acceptable? 5. How do the therapists (MHPs) experience (i) delivering FIRST and (ii) to HSCWs colleagues. The exit interviews will take place at four weeks’ post end-of-therapy delivery and qualitative content analysis will be applied to the data.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Mental health outcomes collected at baseline and four weeks’ post end-of-therapy; and PCL-5 and GAD-7 will also be collected at completion of therapy (approx. four weeks’ post baseline): 1. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) 2. Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) 3. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) 4. The General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) 5. The EuroQol five-dimensional five-levels (EQ-5D-5L) 6. The EuroQol-visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS)	—

Measure

Time frame

Mental health outcomes collected at baseline and four weeks’ post end-of-therapy; and PCL-5 and GAD-7 will also be collected at completion of therapy (approx. four weeks’ post baseline): 1. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) 2. Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) 3. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) 4. The General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) 5. The EuroQol five-dimensional five-levels (EQ-5D-5L) 6. The EuroQol-visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS)

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Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026