Virtual Reality-Cue Exposure Therapy for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: Preliminary results

Abstract

The present study is part of a larger multi-site clinical trial aiming to test the efficacy of Virtual Reality-Cue Exposure Therapy (VR-CET) in patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) considered resistant to treatment as usual (TAU). In this study, we focused on exploring alcohol craving, anxiety, and attentional bias as indicators of the efficacy of VR-CET as an additional treatmentto TAU. Twenty-eight adult patients from the Addictive Behavior Unit from Hospital Clinic of Barcelona participated in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to the VR-CET group (12 patients) or the TAU group (16 patients). Both groups completed the same pre- and post-treatment sessions, in which significant information about substance misuse patterns was collected and several questionnaires were administered (AUDIT, STAI, MACS and Alcohol Stroop Test). The VR-CET group was subsequently administered a six-session protocol of VR exposure (one hour per session) and the TAU group continued with their current treatment. T-tests were performed to assess differences between pre- and posttreatment groups. Although group differences did not reach significance, the decrease in the measures was more evident in the experimental group. CET based on VR is proposed here as a potentially useful complement to habitual treatments for AUD patients.