A Controlled Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercise as an Augmentation Therapy for Inpatients With Major Depressive Disorder

April 19, 2007 updated by: Hadassah Medical Organization
We will evaluate the effect of a short-term aerobic exercise program as an adjuvant treatment in patients with depression undergoing standard clinical antidepressant medication therapy as compared to the effect of stretching exercise. In addition, the effect of exercise on plasma biological markers will be examined and observed changes correlated with clinical antidepressant effects. We hypothesize that the aerobic exercise group will achieve a significantly higher response rates of depressive symptoms, will also have a greater degree of change in the plasma markers, than the control stretching group.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The patients will be randomly assigned to 3 weeks of augmentation therapy (in addition to the antidepressant medication, which will be continued) with either: 1) aerobic exercise or 2) stretching exercise (control group). Random assignment to each group will be stratified according to previous response to treatment as determined by a psychiatrist and review of the Antidepressant Treatment History Form (ATHF) and by gender.

Severity of depression will be rated at the first baseline visit and every week during the exercise program using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D 21 items), Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) (observer-rated) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Visual Analog Scale (self-rated).

Blood samples will be obtained four times during the study - before and after the first exercise session and before and after the last exercise session. The blood taken before the exercise sessions will be used to assay thyroxine, cortisol, insulin, opioid peptides and cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF-α in the plasma. The blood taken after the exercise sessions will be used to re-examine variables expected to be altered immediately after exercise such as cortisol, opioid peptides, catecholamines and cytokines.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Locations

      • Jerusalem, Israel
        • Hadassah Medical Organization

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Diagnosis of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in the context of MDD according to DSM-IV criteria, without psychotic features.
  2. Hamilton Depression Scale (21 items, HAM-D) total>14 with item 1 (depressed mood) >2.
  3. Physical capability to perform aerobic exercise or stretching exercise.
  4. Competent and willing to give written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Current, significant physical illness that will preclude exercise training.
  2. Any physical impairment that can interfere with exercise training.
  3. Current psychotic features.
  4. Treatment with electroconvulsive therapy.

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: Single

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
response of depressive symptoms- reduction in HAM-D score at the end of the follow-up period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
length of hospitalization
reduction in pretreatment BDI score
remission according to HAM-D score
remission according to BDI score
changes in plasmatic measurements before and after the first and last exercise

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: tal Shahar, MD, Hadassah Medical Organization

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

May 1, 2007

Study Completion (Anticipated)

May 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 19, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 19, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

April 20, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 20, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 19, 2007

Last Verified

April 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • bhmi55-hmo-ctil

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.