标题：Brief imagery rescripting vs. usual care and treatment advice in refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder: study protocol for a multi-center randomized-controlled trial
摘要：Background: Many refugees have experienced multiple traumatic events in their country of
origin and/or during flight. Trauma-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) or complex PTSD (CPTSD) are prevalent in this population, which highlights the need
for accessible and effective treatment. Imagery Rescripting (ImRs), an imagery-based treatment that does not use formal exposure and that has received growing interest as an
innovative treatment for PTSD, appears to be a promising approach.
Objective: This randomized-controlled trial aims to investigate the efficacy of ImRs for
refugees compared to Usual Care and Treatment Advice (UC+TA) on (C)PTSD remission
and reduction in other related symptoms.
Method: Subjects are 90 refugees to Germany with a diagnosis of PTSD according to DSM-5.
They will be randomly allocated to receive either UC+TA (n = 45) or 10 sessions of ImRs
(n = 45). Assessments will be conducted at baseline, post-intervention, three-month followup, and 12-month follow-up. Primary outcome is the (C)PTSD remission rate. Secondary
outcomes are severity of PTSD and CPTSD symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, dissociative
symptoms, quality of sleep, and treatment satisfaction. Economic analyses will investigate
health-related quality of life and costs. Additional measures will assess migration and stressrelated factors, predictors of dropout, therapeutic alliance and session-by-session changes in
trauma-related symptoms.
Results and Conclusions: Emerging evidence suggests the suitability of ImRs in the treatment of refugees with PTSD. After positive evaluation, this short and culturally adaptable
treatment can contribute to close the treatment gap for refugees in high-income countries
such as Germany.
