Prazosin Treatment for Combat Trauma PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Nightmares and Sleep Disturbance

January 20, 2009 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs

Prazosin Treatment for Combat Trauma PTSD Nightmares and Sleep Disturbance

The purpose of this study is to determine whether prazosin will reduce the incidence of nightmares, sleep disturbance, and overall symptoms in combat trauma-exposed individuals with PTSD.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The combat stress-related nightmares and sleep disturbance that often follow exposure to military combat are distressing and frequently persistent symptoms that impair quality of life and both occupational and social (e.g., family) function. One of the most frequently reported and most troubling symptoms of PTSD is trauma-content nightmares. These nighttime symptoms have been notoriously resistant to treatment with psychotropic medications such as anxiolytics, the SSRIs, and sedating antihistamines such as cyproheptadine. The SSRIs sertraline (Zoloft®) and paroxetine (Paxil®) are the only drugs FDA approved for PTSD. This approval was based on modest overall PTSD improvement compared to placebo in large multicenter trials that enrolled almost exclusively noncombat trauma subjects. Placebo-controlled SSRI trials for PTSD in combat veterans have been negative or equivocal.

Neurobiologic data suggest that combat stress-related nightmares and sleep disturbance in PTSD are related to enhanced central nervous system (CNS) adrenergic activity, particularly at night. Prazosin is a CNS-active, non-sedating alpha-1 antagonist that has long been generically available for the treatment of hypertension and benign prostatic hypertrophy. We recently demonstrated in Vietnam combat veterans with chronic PTSD that prazosin is robustly effective for previously treatment refractory combat trauma related nightmares, sleep disturbance and overall PTSD severity and functional impairment.

The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of prazosin compared to placebo for combat stress-related nightmares, sleep disturbance and overall function in combat-trauma exposed persons with PTSD.

Primary outcome measures will be Clinical Global Impression of Change, Recurrent Distressing Dreams and Difficulty Falling and Staying Asleep items of the CAPS, total CAPS (exclusive of the dreams and sleep items), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Depression and quality of life also will be assessed.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98108
        • VA Puget Sound Health Care System

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Combat-trauma exposed persons with a diagnosis of PTSD
  • No diagnosis of lifetime schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder, or any DSM-IV cognitive disorder; current delirium, or substance dependence disorder within 3 months of the study or current substance use other than alcohol (no more than 2 drinks/day); severe psychiatric instability or situational life crises, including evidence of being actively suicidal or homicidal, or any behavior which poses an immediate danger to patient or others
  • In good general medical health (no acute or significant chronic medical illness, including unstable angina, recent myocardial infarction, history of congestive heart failure, preexisting hypotension [systolic <110] or orthostatic hypotension [systolic drop > 20 mmHg after two minutes standing or any drop with dizziness]; insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; chronic renal or hepatic failure, pancreatitis, gout, Meniere's disease, benign positional vertigo, narcolepsy, allergy or previous adverse reaction to prazosin or other alpha-1 antagonist, or any unstable medical condition).
  • Stable dose of nonexcluded medications for concurrent stable medical conditions for at least 4 weeks prior to randomization.
  • Specific criteria used to validate presence of combat stress-related nightmares and sleep disturbance will include: score > 5 (of a maximum score of 8) on the CAPS Recurrent Distressing Dreams item. (CAPS score >5 places subjects in the upper third of nightmare severity) or score > 5 (of a maximum score of 8) on the CAPS Difficulty Falling or Staying Asleep item.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Depression
Quality of life
Clinical Global Impression of Change
Recurrent Distressing Dreams and Difficulty Falling and Staying Asleep items of the CAPS
Total CAPS (exclusive of the dreams and sleep items)
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
US Department of Veterans Affairs

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 1, 2003

Study Completion

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 14, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 14, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 15, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 21, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 20, 2009

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • CLIN-018-02F

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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