Efficacy of Online CBT for GAD Compared to Pharmaceutical Interventions
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2021-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an extremely prevalent and debilitating mental health
disorder. Currently, the gold standard treatment for GAD is cognitive behavioural therapy
(CBT) and/or pharmacotherapy. The most common medications used to treat GAD are selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors
(SNRIs). While CBT is a gold standard treatment for GAD, it is costly, time-consuming, and
often inaccessible. Fortunately, the electronic delivery of CBT (e-CBT) has emerged as a
promising solution to address these barriers. e-CBT has shown to offer comparable results to
in-person CBT while improving accessibility for patients and time efficiency for clinicians.
The following project aims to investigate the treatment efficacy of e-CBT compared to, and in
conjunction with pharmacotherapy for GAD. This study has been designed using a
quasi-experimental design to allow patients the freedom to choose which treatment modality
they would like to receive. Participants with a diagnosis of GAD will be enrolled in 1 of 3
possible treatment arms: e-CBT, medication, or combination. The e-CBT program will include a
12-week psychotherapy program delivered through the Online Psychotherapy Tool (OPTT), a
secure, cloud-based, digital mental health platform. The treatment efficacy of e-CBT will be
compared to the treatment efficacy of the medication arm and the combination arm.
Conclusions: If e-CBT is shown to either be comparable to medication or that the effects of
both treatments are augmented when used in tandem, these findings could have major
implications on the mental health care system. e-CBT is a more accessible, and affordable
treatment that could increase mental health care capacity by four-folds if proven viable.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Queen's University
Collaborator:
Online PsychoTherapy Clinic
Treatments:
Norepinephrine Serotonin Serotonin and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors