Guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A multicenter randomized controlled trial in Japan

Kazuki Matsumoto; Sayo Hamatani; Takuya Makino; Jumpei Takahashi; Futoshi Suzuki; Tomoko Ida; Shoko Hamamura; Shinichiro Takiguchi; Akemi Tomoda; Ichiro M Omori; Hirotaka Kosaka; Seina Shinno; Tomoki Ikai; Hiroyuki Hayashi; Hiroto Katayama; Yuki Shiko; Yoshihito Ozawa; Yohei Kawasaki; Chihiro Sutoh; Eiji Shimizu

doi:10.1016/j.invent.2022.100515

Guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A multicenter randomized controlled trial in Japan

Internet Interv. 2022 Feb 24:28:100515. doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2022.100515. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Authors

Kazuki Matsumoto^{1

2}, Sayo Hamatani^{1

3}, Takuya Makino³, Jumpei Takahashi¹, Futoshi Suzuki^{3

4}, Tomoko Ida⁴, Shoko Hamamura⁴, Shinichiro Takiguchi⁴, Akemi Tomoda^{3

4}, Ichiro M Omori⁴, Hirotaka Kosaka^{3

4

5}, Seina Shinno^{6

7}, Tomoki Ikai⁸, Hiroyuki Hayashi^{7

9}, Hiroto Katayama¹⁰, Yuki Shiko¹¹, Yoshihito Ozawa¹¹, Yohei Kawasaki^{11

12}, Chihiro Sutoh¹³, Eiji Shimizu^{1

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8588, Japan.
² Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Institute of Liberal Arts and Science, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan.
³ Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1192, Japan.
⁴ Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan.
⁵ Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1192, Japan.
⁶ Department of Integrated Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1192, Japan.
⁷ Department of Integrated Advanced Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1192, Japan.
⁸ Department of Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1192, Japan.
⁹ Department of Emergency and General Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui 910-1192, Japan.
¹⁰ Kokorotokarada Clinic Fukui, Fukui 910-0067, Japan.
¹¹ Biostatistics Section Clinical Research Center, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba 260-8677, Japan.
¹² Faculty of Nursing, Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, Tokyo 150-0012, Japan.
¹³ Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8588, Japan.
¹⁴ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba 260-8588, Japan.

Abstract

Few studies have compared the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with treatment as usual (TAU). We investigated the effectiveness of guided ICBT for patients with OCD. This prospective, randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, multicenter clinical trial was conducted at three facilities in Japan from January 2020 to March 2021. Thirty-one patients with OCD as the primary diagnosis participated in the trial and were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. The primary outcome was the Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale score; the assessors were blinded. Results of the analysis of covariance among the groups were significantly different between the groups (p < 0.01, effect size Cohen's d = 1.05), indicating the superiority of guided ICBT. The results suggest that guided ICBT is more effective than TAU for treating OCD.

Rct registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000039375).

Keywords: Cost-effectiveness; ERP, Exposure and Response Prevention; ICBT, internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy; Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy; JART, Japanese adult rating test; OCI, obsessive compulsive inventory; Obsessive-compulsive disroder; PRT, progressive relaxation therapy; Randomized controlled trial; TAU, treatment as usual; Treatment as usual; Y-BOCS, Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale.