A Preliminary Study on the Intervention Effect of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy on Fear of Flying

NCT ID: NCT06085768

Last Updated: 2025-05-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 64 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-05-19
• Study Completion Date: 2023-11-05

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to explore the efficacy of VR exposure intervention in alleviating fear of flying through a randomized controlled study.

Conditions

Fear of Flying; Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

VRE intervention group

The intervention group will receive 2 VR exposure interventions, once a week, and each intervention will experience 2 complete flight processes for about 90 minutes each time. A complete flight process includes: (1) waiting for the airport bus at the station, (2) check-in, security check, waiting, and boarding at the airport, (3) taxiing, taking off, cruising, landing, and leaving the aircraft during flight. Among them, the flight process requires the participant to sit on the flight seat, which takes about 24 minutes each time.

A scale assessment and skin electrode and heart rate data collection will be conducted before and after each intervention. The participants' skin electrode and heart rate data will also be collected during the intervention. They will be followed up in the 2nd week after the intervention. Follow-up content includes scale evaluation and safety evaluation.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

VRE intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Virtual reality exposure therapy is a new treatment technology developed in recent years. This technology combines virtual reality technology with traditional exposure therapy, and uses virtual reality technology to present the exposure scenes required for exposure therapy. Therefore, it can break through the limitations of time and space and more intuitively display some things that are difficult to simulate in the treatment room. Scenes do not require the client to undergo treatment through imaginary exposure, thereby increasing the immersion and reality of the treatment. Over the past two decades, numerous studies have explored and proven the effectiveness of virtual exposure therapy.

wait-list control group

The control group will receive scale assessments in weeks 1, 2, and 4, and after the waiting period, receive the same VR exposure intervention once a week for 2 weeks as the intervention group.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

VRE intervention

Virtual reality exposure therapy is a new treatment technology developed in recent years. This technology combines virtual reality technology with traditional exposure therapy, and uses virtual reality technology to present the exposure scenes required for exposure therapy. Therefore, it can break through the limitations of time and space and more intuitively display some things that are difficult to simulate in the treatment room. Scenes do not require the client to undergo treatment through imaginary exposure, thereby increasing the immersion and reality of the treatment. Over the past two decades, numerous studies have explored and proven the effectiveness of virtual exposure therapy.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• The flight anxiety situations questionnaire (FAS) score is no less than 56 points (the critical value is set as two or more standard deviations higher than the average of the normal population);
• Aged between 18 and 65 years old;
• Have normal intelligence and good or corrected vision;
• No family history of any mental illness or other mental disorders other than anxiety disorder;
• Currently not receiving any treatment for phobia, including but not limited to taking psychotropic drugs (unless the dose is stable for more than 3 months, and the subject agrees to continue taking the dose throughout the study);
• Have at least 1 flight experience;

Exclusion Criteria

• The participant cannot tolerate or adapt to VR stimulation;
• The participant was unable to immerse themselves well in the VR environment;
• Severe physical diseases and physical diseases induced by stimulation, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, etc.;
• Have a history of neurological diseases (such as epilepsy, cerebrovascular accident, etc.) or brain trauma or brain surgery;
• The subject suffers from a physical disease and is not in a stable treatment period (such as hyperthyroidism, visual impairment, etc.), resulting in the inability to fully participate in the experimental process;
• Pregnant women.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Shanghai Mental Health Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Zhen Wang

vice-president

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Shanghai Mental Health Center

Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

Countries

China

Other Identifiers

SMHC-VR-002

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id