EMERALD: does EMDR improve mental health following intensive care?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A multi-centre, fully randomised controlled, patient preference, pilot feasibility study to compare the effectiveness of eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing versus usual care in the mental health recovery of intensive care survivors.
IRAS ID
317291
Contact name
Andrew Bates
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Univerity Hospital Southampton
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Many patients who require life-saving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, find the experience to be frightening and traumatic. Around half of survivors will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and/or depression, following discharge from hospital.
Each year over 200,000 patients survive an intensive care stay in the UK alone. Unfortunately, there is no clear mental health care pathway for these patients.
Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychological talking therapy, internationally recommended as a PTSD treatment, but it has never been tested for the benefit of intensive care survivors.
This study will see whether it is feasible to test EMDR, with a group of intensive care survivors, with PTSD, within a real-world NHS health system.
The research team will ask adult patients if they are willing to be tested for PTSD, 2-3 months after leaving hospital. Those without PTSD will be followed up for 12-months, so we can learn more about longer-term mental health recovery.
Those with symptoms of PTSD, will be randomised to receive usual care, or usual care plus a course of EMDR,
Study participants will repeat tests for PTSD, anxiety, depression and quality of life, after 12-months.
This is a feasibility study, so the main purpose Is to determine whether patients are willing to take part, whether the complete their EMDR sessions, and the overall study, including follow-up. We will also interview participants and staff, to further enrich our understanding of their study experience. This information will be combined, to provide a comprehensive understanding of what went well and what could be improved, in this study programme,
This will help us to progress towards a well-designed, fully powered, national trial, which will determine whether we should adopt EMDR into the care packages available for traumatised survivors of intensive care admission.REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SC/0410
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion