Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2013 Feb;47(2):160-8. doi: 10.1177/0004867412453626. Epub 2012 Jul 11.
Past controlled clinical trials centred on virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) for agoraphobia mostly used multicomponent therapy with success. However, the present paper aimed to evaluate the independent effect of VRET for agoraphobia.
A controlled study involving 18 agoraphobic participants assigned to two groups: VRET only and VRET with cognitive therapy. Nine specific virtual environments were developed using an affordable game level editor.
Questionnaires, behavioural tests and physiological measures indicated a positive effect of VRET. Correlations supported the predictive value of presence towards treatment outcome. The addition of cognitive therapy did not provide significant additional benefit.
Overall, the isolated effects of VRET did not seem to be significantly less than the effects of VRET combined with cognitive therapy. Future research should explore the use of other components in addition to cognitive therapy and VRET for agoraphobia as well as its possible use in patients' homes.
过去以虚拟现实暴露疗法（VRET）为中心的惊恐障碍对照临床试验大多采用多组分疗法并取得了成功。然而，本研究旨在评估 VRET 对惊恐障碍的独立疗效。
一项涉及 18 名惊恐障碍参与者的对照研究，将他们分为两组：仅接受 VRET 和同时接受 VRET 与认知疗法。使用价格合理的游戏关卡编辑器开发了九个特定的虚拟环境。
问卷调查、行为测试和生理测量均表明 VRET 具有积极效果。相关性支持了临场感对治疗结果的预测价值。附加认知疗法并没有提供显著的额外益处。
总体而言，VRET 的单独疗效似乎并不明显低于 VRET 联合认知疗法的疗效。未来的研究应探讨在惊恐障碍中除认知疗法和 VRET 之外使用其他组件的可能性，以及其在患者家中的可能应用。
