Determining Optimal Treatment Sequences in Anxious Depression (DOTS-AD)
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Escitalopram, Duloxetine.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Anxious Depression, Depression. Basic parameters: 18 years — 50 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
Acute, double-blind, adaptively randomized treatment with duloxetine or escitalopram, followed by double-blind, randomized adjunctive treatment with clonazepam or pregabalin for persistent symptoms.
Detailed description
The study will consist of 2 phases (Figure 1). Eighty-four adults will be enrolled in Phase 1 and will be adaptively randomized (initially 1:1) to acute, double-blind treatment with escitalopram or duloxetine for 11 weeks. Remission status will be determined at week 10. Remitting patients (CGI-S ≤2) will resume treatment as usual, which may consist of outpatient referral. Non-remitting patients (CGI-S ≥3), will continue into Phase 2 and will be randomized to adjunctive clonazepam or pregabalin for 8 weeks. Twenty adults treated with escitalopram (or its racemic equivalent, citalopram) or duloxetine for ≥6 weeks (at screening) will be enrolled into Phase 2 and will be randomized to receive adjunctive clonazepam or pregabalin for 8 weeks.
Interventions
- Drug Escitalopram
Escitalopram, a SSRI, commercially known as LexaproTM, is commonly prescribed for anxiety disorders and is FDA-approved for acute and maintenance treatment of MDD and GAD. - Drug Duloxetine
Duloxetine, a SNRI, commercially known as CymbaltaTM, is FDA-approved for the treatment of GAD, MDD, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults.
Primary outcome measures
- Change from Baseline in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) total score [Time frame: Week 2 to 20]
- Change from Baseline in the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) [Time frame: Week 2 to 20]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Written, informed consent.
- Patients must be fluent in the English.
- 18 to 50 years of age, inclusive, at Visit 1.
- Patients must meet DSM-5 criteria for generalized, social and/or separation anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder, confirmed by the MINI.99 Patients may also meet criteria for persistent depressive disorder or major depressive disorder however, these may not be the primary focus of treatment.
- HAM-A score ≥20 at Visits 1 and 2.
- Clinical Global Impressions- Severity (CGI-S) score ≥4 at Visits 1 and 2.
- No clinically significant abnormalities on physical examination and EKG.
- Negative pregnancy test at Visit 1 in females.
- Negative urine drug screen at Visit 1.
- Sexually active patients must practice a reliable method of contraception (Section 15.0) that will continue for the duration of the study and for a minimum of 30 days following the end of study participation. Reliable methods of contraception are defined below; other forms of contraceptives (pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological) are not accepted:
- Surgical sterilization
- Oral contraceptives (e.g. estrogren-progestin combination or progestin)
- Transdermally-delivered contraceptives (e.g., Ortho-Evra), depot injections (e.g., Depo-Provera)
- Vaginal contraceptive ring (e.g., NuvaRing), contraceptive implants (e.g., Implanon, Norplant II/Jadelle)
- An intrauterine device
- Diaphragm plus condom.
- For patients directly enrolling into Phase 2: treatment with escitalopram (or its racemic equivalent citalopram) or duloxetine for ≥6 weeks, at time of screening.
Exclusion criteria
- DSM-5 diagnosis other than generalized anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety or panic disorder(s) that is the primary focus of treatment.
- A history of intellectual disability.
- Suicide risk as determined by either: (1) any suicide attempt within the past 6 months and/or (2) significant risk at Visit 1 (Screening) or Visit 2 (Baseline), as judged by the Investigator.
- Allergy, intolerance, non-response or hypersensitivity to escitalopram, duloxetine, pregabalin or clonazepam.
- Subjects taking other medications that require a taper or washout of more than 5 days.
- Patients who have initiated/terminated psychotherapy/behavior therapy within 1 month before Visit 2 (Baseline) will be excluded; if the patient is engaged in psychotherapy, it must have been stable for 1 month prior to baseline.
- A clinically-significant medical illness.
- QTc >450 in males or >460 in females (prolonged QTc based on American Heart Association recommendations for Standardization and Interpretation of the EKG100
- Alcohol or substance use disorder within 6 months of baseline (nicotine use is permitted).
- Positive urine pregnancy test/pregnancy or breast feeding.
- A positive urine drug screen.
- Patients who are unable to swallow capsules.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Double blind
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- University of Cincinnati, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience — Cincinnati
Identifiers
NCT: NCT04245748 · Strawn DOTS-AD