Eficácia da terapia de exposição por realidade virtual para o tratamento da acrofobia: uma revisão sistemática
Resumo
A acrofobia é uma fobia específica caracterizada por um medo extremo e irracional de alturas, afetando significativamente a qualidade de vida de quem a vivencia. Embora a Terapia Cognitivo-Comportamental (TCC) baseada em exposição tenha demonstrado ser eficaz, apresenta diversas limitações práticas. Diante dessa situação, a Terapia de Exposição por Realidade Virtual (VRET, pela sigla em inglês) surge como uma alternativa inovadora. O objetivo desta revisão sistemática é descrever a eficácia da VRET no tratamento da acrofobia. Seguindo as diretrizes PRISMA, foi realizada uma busca nas bases Scopus, Ovid Medline, PubMed e Cochrane. A seleção dos estudos foi efetuada por meio da plataforma Rayyan e a qualidade metodológica foi avaliada com as guias CASPe. Foram selecionados cinco ensaios clínicos randomizados que cumpriram os critérios de inclusão e mostraram que a VRET é eficaz no tratamento da acrofobia. Os achados evidenciam que este formato virtual reduz significativamente os níveis de ansiedade e permite uma exposição progressiva, controlada, segura, adaptável e de menor custo. Em conclusão, embora a VRET siga as diretrizes da TCC, o ambiente virtual possibilita uma experiência imersiva que gera um recurso de memória controlado, facilitando a tolerância e a superação do medo.
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