Panic Disorder and agoraphobia treated through videoconference Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Conditions
Interventions
After receiving an appropriate diagnosis and completing the ethics procedures, participants were randomly assigned to one of the following two conditions:
1. CBT delivered in face-to-f
exposure (interoceptive and agoraphobic)
relapse prevention. A standardized treatment was conducted for 12 weekly 60-minutes sessions delivered by experienced therapists and were supervised by the principal investigator and the co-investigat
Sponsors
University of Quebec at Outaouais (Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)) (Canada)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Ambulatory man and woman 2. At least 18 years old and at most 65 years old 3. French speaking 4. Receiving a principal diagnosis of PDA based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Assessed with a semi-structured diagnostic interview (SCID-I) 5. If currently taking medication for PDA, pharmacotherapy must me stabilized (same type and dosage) for at least three months and the PDA remained stable and uncured (i.e. still meeting the diagnostic criteria). Note that there is no perfect solution to the problem of medication since most severe cases already receive Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) from their doctors when they seek psychological treatments (thus, recruiting non-medicated participants would threaten the feasibility of the study and could lead to the selection of less severe cases) and stopping medication would induce other methodological problems (e.g., withdrawal symptoms, artificial peak of severity at pre-treatment, ethical issues).
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Having a principal diagnosis other than PDA 2. Currently suffering from a severe organic disease, dementia, mental retardation, schizophrenia, amnesia, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, psychosis or bipolar disorder 3. PDA being secondary to a medical condition 4. Active suicidal ideations 5. Starting a new medication or changing actual medication 6. Receiving another psychotherapy to treat PDA in the last 6 months
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Severity of PDA symptoms. The degree of severity of panic disorder and agoraphobia was assessed by the participant with the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (PAS). The PAS contains 13 items with 0-4-point scales grouped in five subscales: panic attacks (frequency, severity, and duration), avoidance, anticipatory anxiety, disability (family, social, employment), and worries about health. The total score is obtained by summing the item scores. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Secondary measures (pre-, post-, 6 and 12 month follow-up): 1. Daily diaries: Panic attacks and panic apprehension were recorded in diaries completed during a 4-week self-monitoring period. Subjects were instructed to carry the panic diary with them at all times and were taught to identify and monitor panic attacks. 2. Self-report outcome measures: 2.1. The Agoraphobic Cognition Questionnaire 2.2. Body Sensation Questionnaire 2.3. Mobility Inventory (alone and accompanied versions) 2.4. Self-Efficacy to Control a Panic Attack Scale The first three instruments are standard measures used in outcome studies onPDA, and the last one is a psychometrically sound instrument that has been used successfully in a previous study. Three other measures were used to assess generalization of the results: 3. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 4. Beck Depression Inventory 5. Sheehan Disability Scale Self-report measures of clinically relevant aspects of videoconference: 6. The client?s perception of the therapeutic alliance between the participant and the therapist was assessed with the Working Alliance Inventory. | — |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed