Background: Cue exposure therapy is used to treat alcohol dependence. However, its effectiveness is controversial due to the limitations of the clinical treatment setting. Virtual reality technology may improve the therapeutic effect. The aim of this study is to explore whether virtual reality-based cue exposure therapy can reduce the psychological craving and physiological responses of patients with alcohol dependence.

Methods: Forty-four male alcohol-dependent patients were recruited and divided into the study group (n = 23) and the control group (n = 21) according to a random number table. The control group received only conventional clinical treatment for alcohol dependence. The study group received conventional clinical treatment with the addition of VR cue exposure (treatment). The primary outcome was to assess psychological craving and physiological responses to cues of patients before and after treatment.

Results: After virtual reality-based cue exposure therapy, the changes in VAS and heart rate before and after cue exposure in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05), while the changes in skin conductance and respiration between the study group and the control group were not significantly different (P > 0.05). The changes in VAS and heart rate before and after cue exposure in the study group were significantly lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05), while the changes in skin conductance and respiration were not significantly different from those before treatment (P > 0.05). The changes in VAS, heart rate, skin conductance and respiration before and after cue exposure in the control group were not significantly different from those before treatment (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Virtual reality-based cue exposure therapy can reduce the psychological craving and part of the physiological responses of alcohol-dependent patients during cue exposure in the short term and may be helpful in the treatment of alcohol dependence.

Trial Registration: The study protocol was registered at the China Clinical Trial Registry on 26/02/2021 ( www.chictr.org.cn ; ChiCTR ID: ChiCTR2100043680).

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10726483PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05426-zDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cue exposure
40
exposure therapy
20
virtual reality-based
16
reality-based cue
16
craving physiological
16
physiological responses
16
study group
16
control group
16
clinical treatment
12
psychological craving
12

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!