Initial Clinical Outcomes from NOCD Digital Behavioral Health Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Exposure and Response Prevention

Effective first-line treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) include exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. Despite extensive evidence of its efficacy in clinical studies and real-world samples, ERP is still underutilized as a treatment, likely due to access to care barriers such as the availability of adequately trained ERP therapists, geographical location, time, and cost. NOCD has created a digital behavioral health treatment for OCD using ERP delivered via teletherapy and between-session support. We examined preliminary treatment outcomes in a large naturalistic sample of 2069 adults, children, and adolescents with a primary OCD diagnosis. Treatment consisted of twice-weekly live teletherapy ERP for three weeks, followed by six weeks of once-weekly brief teletherapy check-ins. Assessments were conducted at baseline, after completion of three weeks of twice-weekly sessions, and at the end of the six weeks of brief check-ins. Treatment resulted in significant improvements, with a 45% mean reduction in OCD symptoms and a 71% response rate (≥35% reduction in OCD symptoms).Treatment also resulted in a significant, 43% reduction in depression, a 49% reduction in anxiety, and a 35% reduction in stress symptoms. Quality of life improved by a mean of 35%. The mean duration of treatment was approximately 11 weeks, and the total therapist time was approximately 11 hours, which is less than half the total time compared with standard once-weekly outpatient treatment. In sum, in this preliminary sample, NOCD’s treatment model for OCD, delivered in a readily-accessible format for patients, has demonstrated to be effective and efficient.