Russo Samuele, Fiani Francesca, Napoli Christian
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Dei Marsi 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Ariosto 25, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2024 Nov 29;14(12):1212. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14121212.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased mental health issues, particularly among long-COVID patients, who experience persistent symptoms post-recovery, potentially leading to chronic conditions. The psychological impact of long-COVID is still largely unknown, but it may contribute to mental disorders like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Given the global rise in anxiety and depression, exploring therapies like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for long-COVID traumatic disorders is crucial. This study explores the effectiveness of remote EMDR therapy for PTSD-like symptoms in long-COVID conditions (LCC), assessing their emergence, the impact of LCC on mental health, and identifying key commonalities. It also examines the potential advantages of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform for EMDR treatments for both therapists and patients, evaluating the response differences between remote and in-person treatment. We enrolled a total of 160 participants divided into two groups of 80, with the experimental group receiving EMDR treatment for PTSD-like symptoms via a remote AI-powered platform, and the control group receiving traditional in-person therapy. We compared the ANOVA for Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUDs) scores, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) scores, and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) scores between our two groups for three cases: pre-treatment, post-treatment, and decrement. Statistical significance analysis showed a consistent absence of significant differences between online AI-powered platforms and traditional in-presence sessions. This effectively confirms our hypothesis and highlights that no significant differences were observed between the two groups. The AI-supported remote platform demonstrates comparable efficacy in delivering EMDR therapy, confirming its potential as an effective alternative to traditional in-person methods while providing added advantages in accessibility and adaptability (e.g., remote areas, hikikomori, natural disasters).
新冠疫情导致心理健康问题增多，尤其是在长期新冠患者中，这些患者在康复后仍有持续症状，可能会发展为慢性病。长期新冠的心理影响在很大程度上仍不为人知，但它可能会导致创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）等精神障碍。鉴于全球焦虑和抑郁的增加，探索如眼动脱敏再处理疗法（EMDR）等治疗长期新冠创伤性疾病的方法至关重要。本研究探讨了远程EMDR疗法对长期新冠状况（LCC）中类似PTSD症状的有效性，评估这些症状的出现情况、LCC对心理健康的影响，并确定关键的共性。它还研究了人工智能（AI）驱动的平台在EMDR治疗中对治疗师和患者的潜在优势，评估远程治疗和面对面治疗之间的反应差异。我们总共招募了160名参与者，分为两组，每组80人，实验组通过远程人工智能驱动的平台接受针对类似PTSD症状的EMDR治疗，对照组接受传统的面对面治疗。我们比较了两组在治疗前、治疗后和减量三个阶段的主观困扰单位（SUDs）评分、《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第5版创伤后应激障碍检查表（PCL - 5）评分以及事件影响量表修订版（IES - R）评分的方差分析。统计显著性分析表明，在线人工智能驱动的平台与传统面对面治疗之间始终没有显著差异。这有效地证实了我们的假设，并突出表明两组之间未观察到显著差异。人工智能支持的远程平台在提供EMDR治疗方面显示出可比的疗效，证实了其作为传统面对面方法的有效替代方案的潜力，同时在可及性和适应性方面具有额外优势（例如，偏远地区、隐蔽青年、自然灾害）。
