NCT05528224

Effect of SC-ICBT for Adults With OCD：A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of Stepped Care in Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adults With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder：A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 46 (actual)
• Sponsor: Shanghai Mental Health Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of stepped-care Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (SC-ICBT) compared with Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) and conventional medical treatment (treatment as usual, TAU) in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in China. The main questions it aims to answer are: question 1: Whether the efficacy of SC-ICBT is noninferior to CBGT and TAU for OCD? question 2: Whether SC-ICBT is more cost-effective than CBGT and TAU for OCD? Participants will receive treatment (SC-ICBT or CBGT or TAU) for 6 weeks. Prior to the main study, we conduct a non-randomized pilot study to explore the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of SC-ICBT related to CBGT for adults with OCD in China.

Detailed description

Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) integrates the Internet and cognitive behavioral therapy, which enables patients to participate in different treatment modules online. ICBT has been proved to be an effective way to improve the symptoms of OCD patients with lower cost. Stepped care model (SCM) allows to better balance the efficacy of treatment and the cost of treatment. In the main study, the investigators plan to develop an intervention pattern of stepped-care Internet-Based cognitive behavioral therapy (SC-ICBT): After individualized assessment（0 week and 3 week separately）, OCD patients will be provided with self-guided ICBT or therapist-guided ICBT through the severity of their symptoms flexibly. This study will be a randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded trial of three groups in OCD: Stepped-care Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (SC-ICBT) combined with medication, Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) combined with medication, and conventional medical treatment (TAU). The study aims to investigate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of SC-ICBT related to CBGT and TAU for adults with OCD in China. To initially validate the feasibility of SC-ICBT in Chinese patients with OCD, the investigators plan to firstly conduct a small, non-randomized pilot study prior to the main study. In the pilot study, patients assigned to SC-ICBT group will begin with self-guided ICBT, followed by an assessment of their treatment outcomes at week 3, with non-responders being escalated to a higher intensity of treatment, and additional therapist-guided ICBT in the following three weeks. In the main study, the investigators plan to recruit 114 OCD patients and randomly assigns them to the SC-ICBT group, CBGT group, and TAU group for treatment of 6 weeks and follow-up of 3 months. While in the pilot study, 46 OCD patients will be recruited and assigned to the SC-ICBT group or CBGT group based on their autonomous will. Questionnaires, scales, behavior experiments and other experimental materials will be used to evaluate the intervention effect of 6-week SC-ICBT on obsessive and compulsive symptoms, cognitive function and quality of life of OCD patients as well as patients' and therapists' cost.

Conditions

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	stepped-care Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy(SC-ICBT)	OCD patients will take part in four structured online lessons for 6 weeks. Lesson one: Psychological Health Education, including the knowledge about OCD, SUDs and other related information. Lesson two: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), including the knowledge about ERP, exposure item list and other related information. Lesson three: Practice of Exposure and Response Prevention. Patients are asked to perform ERP practice based on what they have learned previously: practice at least once a day, a day about one hour all together. On this basis, in the main study, patients with severe obsessive and compulsive symptoms(Y-BOCS≥24) will be provided with extra therapist-guided ICBT: twice a week, about an hour one time. While in the pilot study, non-responders at week 3(YBOCS score reduction rate\<25%) will be provided with extra therapist-guided ICBT. Lesson four: Practice retrospection and relapse prevention.
OTHER	Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT)	OCD patients will be asked to come to Shanghai Mental Health Center to take part in the offline CBT group. Each group will be treated for 6 weeks, twice a week for 2 hours each time. The treatment was supervised by an experienced CBGT therapist. The structure of the course basically corresponds with the SC-ICBT group.
DRUG	conventional medical treatment (TAU)	In this study, the investigators use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) approved by the State Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) for the treatment of OCD (i.e., fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline and fluvoxamine) as well as citalopram and escitalopram. The second-generation atypical antipsychotics may also be combined as a potentiator if the patient requires. The maximum dosage shall not exceed the maximum dosage prescribed in the instruction manual.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-01
• Primary completion: 2023-08-30
• Completion: 2024-03-31
• First posted: 2022-09-06
• Last updated: 2026-01-21

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China