The efficacy of exposure and response prevention for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Tourette Syndrome: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that can effectively relieve obsessive-compulsive symptoms and tic symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome (TS). However, the effect size of ERP is still unclear. Methods In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to identify the efficacy of ERP for individuals with OCD and TS. The standard mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess the effect size of the efficacy for ERP. We used subgroup and meta-regression analysis to explore the heterogeneity of the pooled SMD of ERP for OCD. Results A total of 17 studies including a total of 926 patients with OCD and 66 patients with TS were identified. We observed a small-to-medium effect size of ERP for both OCD (SMD = -0.21, 95% CI: -0.47 to 0.06) and TS (SMD = -0.26, 95% CI: -0.75 to 0.22). Conclusions In conclusion, we found that ERP is effective for patients with OCD and TS. We suggest a combination with other therapies and the development of online ERP services that might prove a promising new direction for healthcare providers.