[Virtual reality in diagnosis and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder].
E Wittock, Chris Bervoets · PubMed · 2022
BACKGROUND: OCD has an estimated lifetime prevalence of 2,3%, and is accompanied by several emotional, social and work impairments. Virtual reality is increasingly used in the context of mental health treatment and has recently been proposed as a possible tool for assessment and intervention in OCD. AIM: To review the existing literature to investigate the role of virtual reality in the diagnosis/severity measurement and treatment of OCD. METHOD: Systematic literature review using PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo databases. RESULTS: We found 10 studies, of which 6 on diagnosis/severity measurement and 4 on treatment of OCD. Virtual reality can be a valuable objective tool in the diagnostic process of OCD. In addition, the anxiety level and the obsessive and compulsive symptoms decreased significantly in participants in virtual reality exposure therapy. CONCLUSION: Further clinical studies with adequate power and design are needed to determine whether virtual reality offers an added value over clinical tools in terms of diagnosis and severity measurement, and whether virtual reality ERP is superior or at least equivalent to in vivo ERP.