The Effectiveness of Controlled Trial of Virtual Reality - Case Study Example

Most of the warriors returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan do suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although the exact percentages of the affected are not known, several studies show the severity of the problem. Very few studies reported on the treatment for this disorder, which could help the service members. It is no doubt that new treatment is needed for these service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A number of randomized controlled trials show that exposure therapy is beneficial in dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder and the same method can be used to combat the condition. 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 post-traumatic stress disorder which includes VR therapy (virtual reality). This kind of therapy allows an individual to confront the past bad experience in a controlled and safe manner. Virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VR-GET) is another method of combating post-traumatic stress disorder. This method incorporates physiological monitoring in the earlier discussed VR therapy, it also includes training. This is a documentation of a randomized trial, which includes discussions on specific issues of posttraumatic stress disorder therapy 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 the 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 trial was conducted at the naval medical center located in San Diego and the naval hospital camp located in Pendleton. The study participants were active duty service members diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder by military health officials. Psychotic, homicidal, and suicidal participants were excluded from the study. The assessors to determine eligible participants did the 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 autonomic control and attentional training. The subsequent sessions that followed involved exposing the participants to VR stimulation of Afghanistan or Iraq's 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 the yates correlation was used to compare the proportions of respondents in VR-GET and TAU. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the categorical variables and the 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 were assigned TAU. Post-treatment assessment was done after 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 participants. No significant variations in the means of the two assignments were seen. Even though the outcome of this study seems promising, it is important to note that the study had some limitations. For instance, the study sample size was quite small, only one therapist was used during the study period, and did not include extended follow up among others. There are studies or previous research that have shown that symptom improvements may continue for more than three months and in this case, the time limit was small.

The results of this study showed that service members suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with working in Afghanistan and Iraq are likely to experience greater improvements when administered VR-GET as compared to when administered TAU. This implies that VR-GET can be used for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. In the future, researchers need to investigate methods of treatment that suit different patients since a given method may work well with a particular patient and fail on the other.