Graded Exposure Therapy: Graded exposure therapy is delivered by a psychologist over 12 individual (1:1) secure videoconference sessions. The core active ingredient is graded situational exposure to foster habituation and challenge beliefs that the avoided activities are dangerous. Homework exercises involve planned exposure exercises in the home and community to support generalization.
Prescribed aerobic exercise: Participants will be asked to complete 30 minutes of aerobic exercise on 5 days/week for a 12-week period. Participants select the mode (e.g., swimming, jogging, bicycling) and location of exercise (e.g., outdoors, a gym or community centre, at home). The initial exercise intensity target will be based on the Buffalo Concussion Bike Test. The target progression will be 3-5 beats per minute every two weeks.
Enhanced usual care: Usual care (education about concussion from the website: concussion.vch.ca/) will be enhanced through email message support.
Concussions are very common. Although many people recover well from concussion, some will have persistent symptoms and difficulties with daily activities. How people cope with their symptoms following concussion powerfully influences their recovery. Fear avoidance behaviour is a particularly unhelpful approach to coping, in which people perceive their pre-injury activities as unnecessarily dangerous and take great care to avoid overexertion and overstimulation. The investigators developed and pilot tested a behavioural therapy, called graded exposure therapy, to reduce fear avoidance behaviour. Our preliminary work suggested that graded exposure therapy was acceptable to patients with concussion and possibly beneficial for their recovery. The GET FAB after concussion study will assess the effectiveness of graded exposure therapy.
| Facility | City | Region | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Brain Injury Program | Calgary | Alberta | |
| Fraser Health Acquired Brain Injury and Concussion Services | Langley | British Columbia | |
| G.F. Strong Adult Concussion Services | Vancouver | British Columbia | |
| Sunnybrooke Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic | Toronto | Ontario | |
| Head Injury Clinic at St. Michael's | Toronto | Ontario | |
| Hull-Ellis Concussion and Research Clinic | Toronto | Ontario | |
| Toronto Western Hospital | Toronto | Ontario |
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
View NCT05365776 on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗ ← All trials in Canada