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Acceptability of Health CareNCT04881643

Blended Treatment för PTSD Feasibility Study

A study testing Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy via a digital support in people with Acceptability of Health Care, run by Karolinska Institutet at 1 site in Sweden.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Feasibility and pilot study using within-group design with the aim of examining whether the blended psychological treatment for PTSD is acceptable for patients and therapists. 20 patients will be included and 4 therapists. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Acceptability of Health Care
What is being tested?
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy via a digital support
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
17 participants
Where
1 siteSweden
Study dates
20 May 2021to 3 Jul 2023
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • PTSD according to DSM-5 criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as a primary problem
  • have basic knowledge of speaking and writing in Swedish,
  • not undergo other psychological treatment for PTSD during the course of the study;
  • be at least 18 years old
  • not be exposed to ongoing violence or threats
  • if antidepressants for depression / anxiety are available, the dose must have been stable for at least 6 weeks before starting treatment.
  • Patients who express an interest in participating receive information about the study. Patients who subsequently carry out the assessment and meet the inclusion criteria receive accurate oral and written information about what participation includes and handling of personal data and data. If the patient wants to participate and gives written consent, the person is included in the study.

Who cannot join

  • -

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Sweden1 site
  • Karolinska Institutet

    Stockholm

Other trials in Sweden

About this study

Official title: Facilitating Implementation of Evidence-based Psychological Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Health Care Services Through a Digital Support - A Feasibility Study

Feasibility and pilot study using within-group design with the aim of examining whether the blended psychological treatment for PTSD is acceptable for patients and therapists. 20 patients will be included and 4 therapists. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted after treatment with a selection of therapists and patients with questions regarding the helpfulness and feasibility of the treatment. Effects of the treatment will be assessed via standardized self-report outcome measures regarding PTSD, depression, anxiety, sleep, quality of life, function and patient satisfaction / acceptance. Measurements are conducted before, during, immediately after and 6 months after treatment. The study is conducted at 2 psychiatric outpatient clinics in the Stockholm Region.

Read the detailed description

Research question and hypothesis

The research question is: Is blended psychological treatment for PTSD via a digital support acceptable and applicable to patients and clinicians? The hypothesis is that testing the digital support and blended delivery format in a smaller scale pilot study will bring to light how the support and treatment could be augmented to better adhere to patients and clinicians needs.

Procedure

The feasibility study will be carried out in collaboration with 2 psychiatric care units in the Stockholm region. In these clinics a handful of therapists will implement the treatment with altogether 20 PTSD patients and assess the digital support and treatment modules. A task group of 3 psychologists will develop the treatment platform and the inherent modules and work materials. The therapists will work closely with the task group and regularly provide feedback of their experiences of working with the platform. Learning obtained from the study will be utilized to improve and adjust the digital support and treatment procedure in preparation for a larger randomized study.

To enable implementation of the digital support in health care services it will be integrated into the digital health care platform Support and Treatment (SOB). SOB is a well-established national health system available to clinicians via the patient medical journals. The support will be internet-based and consist of self-help modules that incorporates similar treatment components as those found in evidence-based trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) protocols. The treatment modules will consist of educational texts, filmed illustrations, case examples, and relevant worksheets. The purpose of the support is to function as a treatment foundation, both for face-to-face appointments and as guided self-help.

Methodology/approach/data analysis

To be included in the study participants must meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD as their primary problem according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), have basic reading and writing skills in Swedish, and not express acute suicidal ideation. Patients with concurrent comorbid psychiatric problems are eligible for inclusion unless another psychiatric diagnosis is assessed as primary to PTSD. Patients will be recruited from the regular flow of patients who seek treatment for psychological problems in the selected clinics.

The research question will be investigated using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative data will be collected via semi-structured interviews with therapists and a selection of patients with the aim of exploring participant's experience of working with the program and strengths and weaknesses of the blended treatment package. Interviews will be carried out by members of the research group post-treatment. The interviews will be transcribed and thematically analyzed.

To further assess patient acceptability two questionnaires will be distributed following treatment. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) has demonstrated good psychometric properties including high reliability and construct validity. The Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ) is the most widely used measure of treatment credibility and expectancy in psychotherapy research. The CEQ consists of five items that are scored on a 10-point likert scale and has demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .84) and high test-retest reliability (r = .75 - .83). Treatment effects in terms of PTSD-symptoms, other psychiatric symptoms, general functioning and quality of life, will be measured by standardized self-rated measures with good reliability and validity. Outcome measures will be administered before, during and after therapy. Statistical analysis will be conducted to measure change over time and effect sizes (hedges g) will be calculated. Moreover, reliable change (RC) and clinically significant change (CSC) will be meassured according to the criteria established by Jacobson and Truax (22).

Significance

The purpose of this project is to increase availability to evidence-based treatment for individuals with PTSD that is effective, acceptable and resource-efficient. PTSD patients make up 2.8% (n = 10342) of the total number of psychiatric patients in the Stockholm region in 2018, according to data collected via the project "dissemination of guideline based care for PTSD". Of these, 15-20% of patients are estimated to have received evidence-based psychological treatment. This indicates that the majority of individuals suffering from PTSD are not receiving appropriate care in Stockholm. Blended treatment may be a solution to this problem and that a small scale feasibility/pilot study is a valuable first step to test the treatment and learn how it can be improved before launching a larger randomized trial. Hence the significance of this study.

Being tested
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy via a digital support
Keywords
cbt, PTSD, digital support
Medical subject headings
Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Color Vision Defects, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy via a digital supportBehavioural

    A blended treatment approach to PTSD, blending internet-based CBT with face-to-face sessions with a therapist

Study groups in NCT04881643
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Blended treatment for PTSDExperimentalA trauma-focused CBT where internet-based treatment is blended with face-to-face sessions with a therapist.
Receives: Behavioral: Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy via a digital support

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Acceptability of treatment among patients and therapists

    Semi-structured interviews

    Measured: Post treatment, 12-20 weeks after enrollment

Secondary outcomes (10)
  1. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8)

    Self rated satisfaction of treatment. Minimum value 8, maximum value 32 where higher values indicate greater satisfaction with the treatment.

    Measured: post treatment, 8-12 weeks after enrollment

  2. The Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ)

    Self rated Credibility of treatment. Minimum value 3, maximum value 27 for each factor, where higher values indicate greater Credibility/Expectancy of the treatment.

    Measured: Week 1 of treatment

  3. The Posttraumatic stress disorder checklist 5 (PCL-5)

    Self rated PTSD-symptoms. Minimum value 0, maximum value 80, where higher values indicate more PTSD symptoms.

    Measured: Pre-treatment, weekly, post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment, and 6-month follow up

  4. Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9)

    Self rated depressive symptoms. Minimum value 0, maximum value 27, where higher values indicate more depressive symptoms.

    Measured: Pre-treatment, weekly, post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment, and 6-month follow up

  5. Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7)

    Self rated anxiety symptoms. Minimum value 0, maximum value 21, where higher values indicate more anxiety symptoms.

    Measured: Pre-treatment, Post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment, and 6-month follow up

  6. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)

    Self rated insomnia symptoms. Minimum value 0, maximum value 28, where higher values indicate more insomnia symptoms.

    Measured: Pre-treatment, Post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment, and 6-month follow up

  7. Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Questionnaire (BBQ)

    Self rated quality of life. Minimum value 0, maximum value 96, where higher values indicate higher quality of life satisfaction.

    Measured: Pre-treatment, Post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment, and 6-month follow up

  8. World health organization disability assessment schedule (WHODAS 2.0)

    Self rated disability. Minimum value 0, maximum value 100, where higher values indicate more disability.

    Measured: Pre-treatment, Post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment, and 6-month follow up

  9. Negative effects questionnaire (NEQ 20)

    Self rated negative effects of treatment. Minimum value 0, maximum value 80, where higher values indicate more negative effects.

    Measured: Post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment

  10. Internet Intervention Patient Adherence Scale (IIPAS)

    Therapist-rated questionnaire regarding patient adherence to an internet-delivered psychological treatment. The scale consists of 5 items rated from 0-4 with higher ratings indicating greater adherence. Total range of scale is 0-20.

    Measured: Post treatment 8-12 weeks after enrollment

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 May 2021
  2. Study start20 May 2021
  3. Primary completion4 Dec 2022
  4. Study completion3 Jul 2023

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
Feasibility and pilot study using within-group design. 20 patients will be included and 4 therapists. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted after treatment with a selection of therapists and patients with questions regarding the helpfulness and feasibility of the treatment. Effects of treatment patients estimate forms regarding PTSD, depression, anxiety, sleep, quality of life, function and patient satisfaction / acceptance. Measurements are performed before, during, immediately after and 6 months after treatment.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
17 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04881643
Sponsor's protocol ID
dnr P2020/46
Status last verified
Mar 2024
First submitted
3 May 2021
Last updated
7 Mar 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Lundin J, Rozental A, Bjorverud-Gustafsson L, Jansson-Frojmark M, Carlbring P, Lundgren T, Salomonsson S. Doing the groundwork at home, working through it together: patient experiences of blended cognitive therapy for PTSD in routine care. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2026 Dec;17(1):2727212. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2026.2727212. Epub 2026 Sep 30.

    PubMed 42812108
  • Lundin J, Jansson-Frojmark M, Gustafsson-Bjorverud L, Grey N, Santoft F, Ehlers A, Carlbring P, Lundgren T, Bragesjo M, Salomonsson S. Integrating digital and in-person therapy for PTSD: feasibility and acceptability of blended trauma-focused cognitive therapy in routine care. Front Psychiatry. 2024 Sep 5;15:1447651. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1447651. eCollection 2024.

    PubMed 39301223

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy via a digital support in people with Acceptability of Health Care, run by Karolinska Institutet at 1 site in Sweden.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 7 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 7 Mar 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Sweden. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Acceptability of treatment among patients and therapists (time frame: Post treatment, 12-20 weeks after enrollment). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04881643, which also lists 2 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 7 Mar 2024.

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