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An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Internet-based guided self-help is efficacious for panic disorder, but it is not known whether such treatment is effective for milder panic symptoms as well. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of Don’t Panic Online, an Internet-based self-help course for mild panic symptoms, which...

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Autores principales: van Ballegooijen, Wouter, Riper, Heleen, Klein, Britt, Ebert, David Daniel, Kramer, Jeannet, Meulenbeek, Peter, Cuijpers, Pim
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications Inc. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23896222
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2362
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author van Ballegooijen, Wouter
Riper, Heleen
Klein, Britt
Ebert, David Daniel
Kramer, Jeannet
Meulenbeek, Peter
Cuijpers, Pim
author_facet van Ballegooijen, Wouter
Riper, Heleen
Klein, Britt
Ebert, David Daniel
Kramer, Jeannet
Meulenbeek, Peter
Cuijpers, Pim
author_sort van Ballegooijen, Wouter
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Internet-based guided self-help is efficacious for panic disorder, but it is not known whether such treatment is effective for milder panic symptoms as well. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of Don’t Panic Online, an Internet-based self-help course for mild panic symptoms, which is based on cognitive behavioral principles and includes guidance by email. METHODS: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial was conducted. Participants (N=126) were recruited from the general population and randomized to either the intervention group or to a waiting-list control group. Inclusion criteria were a Panic Disorder Severity Scale-Self Report (PDSS-SR) score between 5-15 and no suicide risk. Panic symptom severity was the primary outcome measure; secondary outcome measures were anxiety and depressive symptom severity. Measurements were conducted online and took place at baseline and 12 weeks after baseline (T1). At baseline, diagnoses were obtained by telephone interviews. RESULTS: Analyses of covariance (intention-to-treat) showed no significant differences in panic symptom reduction between groups. Completers-only analyses revealed a moderate effect size in favor of the intervention group (Cohen’s d=0.73, P=.01). Only 27% of the intervention group finished lesson 4 or more (out of 6). Nonresponse at T1 was high for the total sample (42.1%). Diagnostic interviews showed that many participants suffered from comorbid depression and anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The Internet-based guided self-help course appears to be ineffective for individuals with panic symptoms. However, intervention completers did derive clinical benefits from the intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Nederlands Trial Register: NTR1639; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=1639 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ITZPozs9).
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spelling pubmed-37424032013-08-14 An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial van Ballegooijen, Wouter Riper, Heleen Klein, Britt Ebert, David Daniel Kramer, Jeannet Meulenbeek, Peter Cuijpers, Pim J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Internet-based guided self-help is efficacious for panic disorder, but it is not known whether such treatment is effective for milder panic symptoms as well. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of Don’t Panic Online, an Internet-based self-help course for mild panic symptoms, which is based on cognitive behavioral principles and includes guidance by email. METHODS: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial was conducted. Participants (N=126) were recruited from the general population and randomized to either the intervention group or to a waiting-list control group. Inclusion criteria were a Panic Disorder Severity Scale-Self Report (PDSS-SR) score between 5-15 and no suicide risk. Panic symptom severity was the primary outcome measure; secondary outcome measures were anxiety and depressive symptom severity. Measurements were conducted online and took place at baseline and 12 weeks after baseline (T1). At baseline, diagnoses were obtained by telephone interviews. RESULTS: Analyses of covariance (intention-to-treat) showed no significant differences in panic symptom reduction between groups. Completers-only analyses revealed a moderate effect size in favor of the intervention group (Cohen’s d=0.73, P=.01). Only 27% of the intervention group finished lesson 4 or more (out of 6). Nonresponse at T1 was high for the total sample (42.1%). Diagnostic interviews showed that many participants suffered from comorbid depression and anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The Internet-based guided self-help course appears to be ineffective for individuals with panic symptoms. However, intervention completers did derive clinical benefits from the intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Nederlands Trial Register: NTR1639; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=1639 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ITZPozs9). JMIR Publications Inc. 2013-07-29 /pmc/articles/PMC3742403/ /pubmed/23896222 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2362 Text en ©Wouter van Ballegooijen, Heleen Riper, Britt Klein, David Daniel Ebert, Jeannet Kramer, Peter Meulenbeek, Pim Cuijpers. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 29.07.2013. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
van Ballegooijen, Wouter
Riper, Heleen
Klein, Britt
Ebert, David Daniel
Kramer, Jeannet
Meulenbeek, Peter
Cuijpers, Pim
An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
title An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
title_fullStr An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full_unstemmed An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
title_short An Internet-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Panic Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
title_sort internet-based guided self-help intervention for panic symptoms: randomized controlled trial
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23896222
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2362
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