Digital PE for PTSD – HOPE

Huddinge Online Prolonged Exposure therapy for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder

Could digital treatments like HOPE revolutionize access to effective PTSD care for those who need it most?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition marked by persistent intrusive symptoms, avoidance, and hyperarousal that cause significant distress and impairment. While trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapies, such as prolonged exposure (PE), are the recommended first-line treatments, access to these therapies is often limited, leaving many patients without the necessary care. This treatment gap underscores the need for innovative solutions like digital interventions.

The Huddinge Online Prolonged Exposure (HOPE) program represents a promising digital alternative designed to increase access to effective PTSD treatment. Preliminary trials have demonstrated HOPE’s feasibility, patient acceptability, and potential for reducing PTSD symptoms. However, internet-delivered prolonged exposure has been minimally tested in randomized controlled trials, and no such treatments are currently available in Sweden. This study aims to fill that gap by rigorously evaluating HOPE’s effectiveness in a clinical setting, comparing it against an active control condition.

The primary outcome of this study is the severity of PTSD symptoms, measured by the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5). Secondary outcomes include self-reported PTSD and complex PTSD symptoms, depression, quality of life, cost-effectiveness, mediators of change, dropout rates, and adverse events. This is the first study to compare digital prolonged exposure with an active control group while including patients with complex PTSD, enhancing its generalizability and real-world applicability.

Group members involved in the project

Read more about how the project is applied:

• Mind the Gap
• Save the Children