| Methods |
Design: three group parallel trial
Purpose: study the effect of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) on panic disorder with agoraphobia |
| Participants |
Patients: out‐patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia
Baseline comparability: NS |
| Interventions |
Placebo: sessions with a credible attention‐placebo ('association and relaxation therapy')
Untreated: no sessions
Experimental: sessions with EMDR
(Co‐intervention: anxiolytic drugs in moderate doses) |
| Outcomes |
Frequency of panic attacks
Daily and weekly expectancy of panic attack
Daily highest anxiety
Daily average anxiety
The agoraphobic cognitions questionnaire
Body sensations questionnaire
Brief body sensations interpretations
Panic appraisal inventory
The mobility inventory
Beck depression inventory
Beck anxiety inventory
Brief symptom inventory
Social adjustment scale (self‐report)
Distress questionnaire |
| Notes |
After completion of waiting‐list period the no treatment group was randomised to placebo and active treatment. Results from the placebo group also included patients who originally were in the no‐treatment group. Contact with the authors made it clear that the data from the originally randomised patients had been lost. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Adequate sequence generation? |
Unclear risk |
NS |
| Allocation concealment? |
Unclear risk |
NS |
| Blinding?
Treatment provider |
High risk |
Not described as double‐blind (placebo/EMDR) |
| Blinding?
Outcome assessor |
Unclear risk |
Not relevant as patient reported outcome |
| Incomplete outcome data addressed?
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Drop‐out < 15% |
| Free of selective reporting? |
High risk |
No protocol available. Contact to the authors made it clear that the data from the originally randomised patients had been lost. |
| Free of other bias? |
Low risk |
|
| Trial size > 49? |
High risk |
N = 27 |
| Clearly concealed allocation + trial size > 49 + drop‐out max 15% |
High risk |
Trial size < 49 |
