What the trial was testing
The trial enrolled 65 patients with ptsd. The study was sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was initial testing (phase 2). Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
Veterans receiving brain stimulation with VR had greater PTSD symptom reduction at one month.
JAMA psychiatry · 2024 · NCT03372460
These findings — that brain stimulation plus VR led to bigger symptom improvements than VR alone — were published in the JAMA psychiatry and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 65 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with ptsd, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
This was a mid-stage study and the combination treatment is not yet FDA-approved. The research involved only 54 veterans and needs larger studies to confirm the results. If you have PTSD, talk to your doctor about approved treatments like trauma-focused therapy or medications, and ask about any open research studies testing this approach.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open ptsd trials
Experience of Staying in Intensive Care and Impact on Quality of Life
It now seems well established that post-traumatic stress disorder following a stay in intensive care is one of the factors that affects patients' quality of life after they leave hospital. Several qualitative and quantitative studies suggest that there are several factors associated with the onset of this post-traumatic stress disorder, including the absence of memory of the stay in intensive care. With this in mind, some intensive care units (in France and abroad) are implementing measures to improve the patient experience during their stay, particularly to compensate for this lack of memory: several studies show a link between the introduction of intensive care unit logbooks and a decrease in the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home. The aim of this research project is to measure the experience of the stay in intensive care and its possible impact on quality of life. It is therefore part of a process of implementing measures within general and cardiovascular surgical intensive care units, aimed at better assessing and improving the quality of life of patients after a stay in intensive care.
Parenting STAIR: Adapting a Trauma-Focused Parenting Intervention for Military-Connected Mothers and Their Children
The goal of this study is to assess Parenting STAIR Modular (PSTAIR-M), a promising and innovative intervention for military-connected mothers (MCM) who have experienced trauma and their young children (ages 2-10). PSTAIR-M aims to help mothers manage the strong feelings that sometimes happen after experiencing something scary or stressful, as well as to better connect with their children and manage their behavior effectively. The main questions the study aims to answer are: 1) Does PSTAIR-M reduce maternal PTSD and/or depression symptoms?, and 2) Does PSTAIR-M improve parental functioning? Researchers will compare PSTAIR-M to treatment as usual (TAU) - other EBTs offered at participating study sites - to determine if PSTAIR-M is more effective in improving mental health and parenting. Participants will: 1) attend 12-16 weekly, 1-hour online treatment sessions with their assigned clinicians, 2) complete three 1-hour online assessments administered by research staff, 3) engage with their child in three 15-30-minute online, observed play sessions, 4) have assessments and observed play sessions audio and video recorded. Participants may also be invited to participate in an optional, 30-minute online one-on-one qualitative interview, which would be audio and video recorded and would cover participants' experiences with the intervention, the clinic sites, and their providers.