Exercise and Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Acrophobia

• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin (Other)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT02361203
• Collaborator: (none)
• Enrollment: 60
• Location: 1
• Arms: 2
• Duration (Months): 11
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 5.5

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether aerobic exercise can enhance the effects of exposure therapy treatment for fear of heights.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Fear of Heights	Behavioral: Exercise	N/A

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Actual Enrollment: 60 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Official Title: Exercise and Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Acrophobia
• Study Start Date: Feb 1, 2015
• Actual Primary Completion Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Actual Study Completion Date: Jan 1, 2016

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
No Intervention: No Exercise
Experimental: Exercise Pre 30 minutes of aerobic exercise before exposure therapy	Behavioral: Exercise; 30 minutes of aerobic exercise on a treadmill at 80% of participant's heart rate reserve.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Fear scores [7 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Change in fear scores using subjective units of distress will be assessed.

2. Perceived threat likelihood scores [7 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Change in the perception of threat likelihood on a scale from 1-5 will be assessed.

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. Skin conductance fluctuations [7 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Changes in skin conductance fluctuations will be assessed.

2. Heart rate fluctuations [7 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Heart rate fluctuations will be assessed.

3. Acrophobia Severity [14 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Change in score on the Acrophobia Questionnaire

4. Attitudes Toward Heights [14 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Change in score on the Attitudes Toward Heights Inventory

5. Clinical Global Improvement [14 (+/- 3) days after exposure therapy]

   Change in score on the Clinical Global Improvement Scale

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years to 25 Years
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 to 25

• Speaks English fluently

• Score of 80 or higher on the Acrophobia Questionnaire

• SUDS rating of 50 or higher on the Behavioral Avoidance Test or complete refusal to comply with instructions due to intensity of fear

• Passes the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire-Plus

Exclusion Criteria:

• Hearing or visually impaired

• Currently receiving exposure-based treatment for acrophobia

• Able to remain on floor 20 for 30 seconds during BAT with a SUDS rating < 50

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	University of Texas at Austin	Austin	Texas	United States	78712

Sponsors and Collaborators

• University of Texas at Austin

Investigators

• Principal Investigator: Jasper Smits, PhD, University of Texas at Austin

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• Responsible Party: Jolene Jacquart, Graduate Student, University of Texas at Austin
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02361203
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2014-12-0037
• First Posted: Feb 11, 2015
• Last Update Posted: Feb 2, 2016
• Last Verified: Feb 1, 2016

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Feb 2, 2016