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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
ACTRN12608000276358
Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
29/05/2008
Date registered
29/05/2008
Date last updated
12/06/2018
Type of registration
Retrospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Treating spider phobia using Neuro Emotional Technqiue (N.E.T.): A pilot study
Scientific title
A randomised controlled trial using Neuro Emotional Technique (N.E.T.) compared to no intervention for treating adults aged 18 to 65 years with spider phobia as measured by the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS)
Secondary ID [1] 279942 0
NET for Spider Phobia
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Linked study record

Health condition
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:
spider phobia 3203 0
Condition category
Condition code
Mental Health 3366 3366 0 0
Anxiety

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of intervention(s) / exposure
Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) is a relatively new stress-reduction technique whose aim is to remove neurological abnormalities which have a specified physiopathological pattern. Oftentimes emotional trauma can cause a learned emotional response, a conditioned fear, and as a result, a related physiopathological pattern. Under normal conditions, the learned response becomes extinct, and the physiopathological pattern resolves. However, occasionally this does not happen, and both persist. This especially seems to be case in phobia. The goal of NET is to normalise these aberrant patterns through a physical correction. It involves the dynamics of memory, muscle testing, and some principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (i.e. the meridian-emotion relationship).
The experimental group received two 30-minute sessions of NET - once per week for 2 weeks.
Intervention code [1] 2951 0
Treatment: Other
Comparator / control treatment
No treatment
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 4255 0
Mean change in Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) scores
Timepoint [1] 4255 0
At initial and final assessments (approximately 2 weeks later)
Secondary outcome [1] 7185 0
Mean change in Spider Questionnarie (SPQ) scores
Timepoint [1] 7185 0
At initial and final assessments (approximately 2 weeks later)
Secondary outcome [2] 7186 0
Mean change in Becks Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores
Timepoint [2] 7186 0
At initial and final assessments (approximately 2 weeks later)
Secondary outcome [3] 7187 0
Mean change in heart rate
Timepoint [3] 7187 0
At initial and final assessments (approximately 2 weeks later)
Secondary outcome [4] 7188 0
Mean change in Behavioural Assessment Test (BAT) scores
Timepoint [4] 7188 0
At initial and final assessments (approximately 2 weeks later)

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
Self-reported spider phobia; fluent in English
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
65 Years
Sex
Both males and females
Can healthy volunteers participate?
No
Key exclusion criteria
Currently being treated for spider phobia; Currently have another disgnosed mental health condition

Study design
Purpose of the study
Treatment
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Enrolment was via flyers, posters and general email between January and June 2007; group allocation was via sealed opaque envelope chosen by the participant following their initial assessment.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Masking / blinding
Open (masking not used)
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Efficacy
Statistical methods / analysis

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Completed
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
Actual
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
Actual
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
Actual
Sample size
Target
Accrual to date
Final
Recruitment outside Australia
Country [1] 993 0
United Kingdom
State/province [1] 993 0
Oxfordshire
Country [2] 10549 0
United States of America
State/province [2] 10549 0
Pennsylvania

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 3437 0
Self funded/Unfunded
Name [1] 3437 0
Country [1] 3437 0
Primary sponsor type
University
Name
University of Oxford
Address
Department of Social Policy and Social Work
Barnett House, 32 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER, UK
Country
United Kingdom
Secondary sponsor category [1] 3079 0
None
Name [1] 3079 0
Address [1] 3079 0
Country [1] 3079 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 5461 0
Central University Research Ethics Committee
Ethics committee address [1] 5461 0
[email protected]

University of Oxford
Barnett House, 32 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER, UK
Ethics committee country [1] 5461 0
United Kingdom
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 5461 0
Approval date [1] 5461 0
15/01/2007
Ethics approval number [1] 5461 0
SSD/CUREC2/07-007

Summary
Brief summary
This trial's aim was to test the efficacy of using Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) to reduce the severity of the symptoms of spider phobia in adults. It was hypothesised that NET would reduce the severity of both subjective and objective symptoms of spider phobics
Trial website
None
Trial related presentations / publications
Jensen, A. M. and A. Ramasamy (2009). "Treating spider phobia using Neuro Emotional Techniqueâ„¢: Findings from a pilot study." Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 15(12): 1363-74. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20001838.

Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, March 2010: Increasing power output in rowers using Neuro Emotional Technique (NET): A pilot case series.

International Congress of Complementary Medicine Research, Sydney, Australia, March 2008. Neuro Emotional Technique for simple phobia.
Public notes
Attachments [1] 2772 2772 0 0

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 28627 0
Dr Anne M Jensen
Address 28627 0
11A Whitemarsh Avenue
Erdenheim, PA 19038
USA
Country 28627 0
United States of America
Phone 28627 0
+1 323 744 7374
Fax 28627 0
Email 28627 0
Contact person for public queries
Name 11784 0
Dr Dr. Anne M Jensen
Address 11784 0
11A Whitemarsh Avenue
Erdenheim, PA 19038
USA
Country 11784 0
United States of America
Phone 11784 0
+1 323 744 7374
Fax 11784 0
Email 11784 0
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 2712 0
Dr Dr. Anne M Jensen
Address 2712 0
11A Whitemarsh Avenue
Erdenheim, PA 19038
USA
Country 2712 0
United States of America
Phone 2712 0
+1 323 744 7374
Fax 2712 0
Email 2712 0

No information has been provided regarding IPD availability


What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided



Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
No additional documents have been identified.