Efficacy of an Internet-based Treatment for Flying Phobia: NO-FEAR Airlines

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

69 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2015-09-01

Study Completion Date

2017-10-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a computer-aided self-help treatment for flying phobia with or without support by the therapist, compared to a waiting list control group.

Secondary objectives: a) to explore two ways of delivering NO-FEAR Airlines, with or without therapist guidance and b) to study the patients' acceptability through expectations, preferences and satisfaction towards the online program. In this work, we present the study design.

The principal hypothesis is that the two intervention groups will improve significantly compared to the waiting list control group.

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Detailed Description

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One of the most prevalent phobias in our society is the fear of flying or flying phobia (FP). Surveys which identify clinically significant phobias estimate point prevalence at approximately 2.5% of the adult population. Around 10% of the general population do not fly due to intense fear, 25% of the population that fly experience intense distress during the flight and 20% of people depend on alcohol or tranquilizers to overcome the fear of flying.

The most effective psychological technique for the treatment of phobias is in vivo exposure. Besides, not all patients benefit from in vivo exposure, given that an important amount of them do not accept the intervention or drop out (around 25%) when they are informed about the intervention procedure or they have problems to access to these therapies.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are pioneer applications that can improve treatment adherence and acceptance. Specifically, Computerized programs boasts remarkable advantages beyond strictly therapeutic and effectiveness-related ones in treating fear of flying: a reduction in direct therapeutic contact time, the possibility of standardizing treatment to the maximum, the low cost - which allows a greater extension - and, perhaps most importantly, access to patients who would not be very willing to subject themselves to live exposure (a real flight) with a steep exposure gradient. The application of cognitive-behavioural procedures such as exposure through interactive computer programs is especially recommended.

Conditions

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Flying Phobia

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

FACTORIAL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Investigators

Study Groups

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Group without support by the therapist

Intervention group that do the "NO-FEAR Airlines" program and does not receive support by the therapist.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

NO-FEAR Airlines

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

"NO-FEAR Airlines" is a computer program that allows people who are afraid to fly to be exposed to images and sounds related to their phobic fears on a standard personal computer. The treatment can be totally self-applied.

"NO-FEAR Airlines" divides the flight process into six sequential stages: (1) flight preparation, (2) a series of activities immediately prior to flying on the day of the flight, (3) boarding and taking off, (4) the central part of the flight, (5) the airplane's descent, approach to the runway and landing, (6) sequence with images and auditory stimuli related to plane crashes.

Group with support by the therapist

Intervention group that do the "NO-FEAR Airlines" program and receives support by the therapist (a brief weekly five-minutes call).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

NO-FEAR Airlines

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

"NO-FEAR Airlines" is a computer program that allows people who are afraid to fly to be exposed to images and sounds related to their phobic fears on a standard personal computer. The treatment can be totally self-applied.

"NO-FEAR Airlines" divides the flight process into six sequential stages: (1) flight preparation, (2) a series of activities immediately prior to flying on the day of the flight, (3) boarding and taking off, (4) the central part of the flight, (5) the airplane's descent, approach to the runway and landing, (6) sequence with images and auditory stimuli related to plane crashes.

Waiting list control group

Control group that could access the "NO-FEAR Airlines" program after waiting for 6 weeks.

After that time, those participants still interested were randomly assigned to one of two intervention conditions (with or without support by the therapist).

Group Type OTHER

NO-FEAR Airlines

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

"NO-FEAR Airlines" is a computer program that allows people who are afraid to fly to be exposed to images and sounds related to their phobic fears on a standard personal computer. The treatment can be totally self-applied.

"NO-FEAR Airlines" divides the flight process into six sequential stages: (1) flight preparation, (2) a series of activities immediately prior to flying on the day of the flight, (3) boarding and taking off, (4) the central part of the flight, (5) the airplane's descent, approach to the runway and landing, (6) sequence with images and auditory stimuli related to plane crashes.

Interventions

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NO-FEAR Airlines

"NO-FEAR Airlines" is a computer program that allows people who are afraid to fly to be exposed to images and sounds related to their phobic fears on a standard personal computer. The treatment can be totally self-applied.

"NO-FEAR Airlines" divides the flight process into six sequential stages: (1) flight preparation, (2) a series of activities immediately prior to flying on the day of the flight, (3) boarding and taking off, (4) the central part of the flight, (5) the airplane's descent, approach to the runway and landing, (6) sequence with images and auditory stimuli related to plane crashes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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SIN MIEDO Airlines Computer-aided Self-help Treatment for Flying Phobia Internet-based treatment for flying phobia

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Be older than 18 years of age,
* To meet current DSM-5 criteria for specific phobia (flying phobia).
* Be willing to participate in the study.
* Be able to use a computer and having an Internet connection at home.
* Be able to understand and read Spanish.
* Have an e-mail address.

Exclusion Criteria

* Be receiving psychological treatment for fear of flying.
* A severe mental disorder: abuse or dependence of alcohol or other substances, psychotic disorder, dementia or bipolar disorder.
* Presence of depressive symptomatology, suicidal ideation or plan.
* Presence of heart disease.
* Pregnant women (from the fourth month).

Receiving pharmacological treatment is not an exclusion criterion during the study period, but the increase, decrease and/or change in the medication during the study period will imply the participant's exclusion from subsequent analyses.

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No