Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Virtual Reality Exposure in Cardiac Rehabilitation. A Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. For patients, cardiovascular rehabilitation is crucial, after hospitalisation following the acute event, to make the patient as autonomous as possible. To improve the effectiveness of healthcare interventions, innovative approaches such as virtual reality have been developed. The aim of this research project is to analyse the effects of a specific CBT therapy programme enhanced with virtual reality on the psychological state of patients undergoing cardiovascular rehabilitation, as well as to evaluate the benefits that such programmes can offer for psycho-physical health. Three groups will be compared: (a) the usual rehabilitation programme (UT); (b) a program with standard CBT and interoceptive exposure in addition; (c) a CBT programme with the additional use of virtual reality. In addition to expecting an improvement over time for all patients (main effect of time), we specifically hypothesise that the type of treatment (CBT-VR vs. CBT vs. UT) will lead to statistically significant differences in patients' scores over time (group*time interaction).