Prevention of Intrusive Memories and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms After Emergency Cesarean Section

Can Playing Tetris Prevent the Development of Traumatic Intrusions in Mothers Following an Emergency Cesarean Section? A Pilot Study

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02502513

Enrollment

Registered

2015-07-20

Start date

2013-06-30

Completion date

2015-10-31

Last updated

2016-01-28

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

Conditions

Acute Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Brief summary

This pilot study aims to investigate the effects of a brief computerized intervention (the computer game Tetris) on intrusive memories and other posttraumatic stress symptoms following an emergency cesarean section. Patients who have undergone an emergency cesarian section will be randomly allocated to either the brief computerized intervention or usual care within the first 6 hours following the operation. Participants will be followed up at one week and one month. It is predicted that participants given the brief computerized intervention will develop fewer intrusive memories and less severe clinical symptoms than those who are not. This will inform the potential future development of a simple computerized intervention to prevent distressing psychological symptoms after a traumatic event such as an emergency cesarean section.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALBrief computerized intervention

Computer game Tetris

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

FEMALE

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Female, aged 18+ years * Had emergency caesarean section within the past 6 hours * Have given birth to a live baby at ≥ 37 weeks gestation

Exclusion criteria

* Do not speak French sufficiently well to participate in assessments * Have established intellectual disability or psychotic illness * Baby was transferred to intensive care unit after the birth

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Number of intrusive memories recorded by participants in an intrusive memory diary in the week after the emergency cesarean section	1 week following the emergency cesarean section

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS)	1 month following the emergency cesarean section
Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS)	1 week following the emergency cesarean section
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)	1 week and 1 month following the emergency cesarean section

Other

Measure	Time frame
Acceptability of Intervention (rating scale)	1 month following the emergency cesarean section

Countries

Switzerland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 27, 2026