Improving the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa in Children Through Virtual Reality Body Exposure

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Behavioral
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

The age of onset of anorexia nervosa has been progressively decreasing in recent years. Also, the prevalence rates of childhood anorexia in many countries have grown significantly. This increase was already observed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the confinements and the stress derived from them have caused this increase to accelerate. As in adolescent and adult patients, in childhood anorexia some of the core signs and symptoms are an extreme fear of gaining weight and avoidance of food. The consequences of the early-onset of anorexia can be very important since the maturation of the organism is more incomplete in children than in adolescents. Weight loss can have very severe consequences, since in children the percentage of body fat is lower. On the other hand, hormonal disorders derived from food deprivation also have very severe consequences for the development of different organs. General physical development and growth can be affected, with consequences such as not being able to reach normal height. The research carried out to date on the efficacy of treatments for childhood anorexia is very scarce. There are no specific treatment strategies or settings for children with anorexia, and little research has been done to tailor treatment for younger patients. Given the need to explore new treatments for anorexia nervosa specifically aimed at children, the objective of this project is to develop a program to carry out exposure to one's own body through virtual reality, gradually, with progressive increases in size until achieving a healthy weight. In the virtual exposure, patients will observe the image of an avatar in a mirror for the time necessary in each session to produce the reduction of the anxiety response. The avatars that will be developed for this purpose will have a physical constitution corresponding to children under 14 years of age, and physical proportions equivalent to those of each patient. The positive results obtained with a previous version of this treatment originally developed for adolescents and adults suggest that its adaptation to children can open new ways for exploring effective treatments for childhood anorexia.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Maximum Age: 14
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• Patients with a primary diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (DSM-V)

• Patients below 14 years old

• Patients with BMI \<18.5

• Subsyndromal patients will also be included

Locations
Other Locations
Spain
Hospital Sant Joan de Déu
RECRUITING
Barcelona
Contact Information
Primary
José Gutiérrez-Maldonado
jgutierrezm@ub.edu
93 312 51 24
Backup
Marta Ferrer-Garcia
martaferrerg@ub.edu
667287894
Time Frame
Start Date: 2024-07-01
Estimated Completion Date: 2026-03-30
Participants
Target number of participants: 108
Treatments
Experimental: Cognitive-behavioral therapy plus VR-based body exposure and Attentional Bias Modification Training.
In this group, five sessions of VRE will be added to the usual CBT, as in the other experimental group, but, in addition, at the beginning of each of the exposure sessions, the training aimed at reducing the attentional bias will be carried out. The training will be developed through the visual selection of geometric figures that fit approximately with specific parts of the body. Each of these figures can have different colors. Specifically, the patient must detect and identify the figures that will appear in different parts of the avatar's body. In half of the trials, the shape of the figure must be discriminated and in the remaining 50%, the discrimination will be based on color. Throughout the training, the geometric figures will appear on weight-related body parts in 45% of the trials, and in another 45% of the trials, it will appear on non-weight-related body parts. In the remaining trials (10%), the test will appear on one of three neutral stimuli located next to the avatar.
Experimental: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anorexia and VR-based body exposure:
Patients assigned to this group will receive the usual CBT from the clinical unit or the hospital where they are, and additionally, five sessions of VR-based body exposure intervention. In these weekly sessions patients will go through a body exposure intervention in which they will own a virtual avatar with their real measurements, that will progressively increase its BMI values throughout the following exposure sessions until a healthy BMI value is reached.
Active_comparator: Cognitive behavioral therapy
Patients assigned to this group will receive the usual treatment from the center in which they are recruited for the study (CBT), and will have to complete the evaluations following the same schedule as the experimental group.
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Collaborators: Hospital Sant Joan de Deu
Leads: University of Barcelona

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov