Preventing the Return of Depression in Elderly Patients

June 20, 2013 updated by: Charles Reynolds, University of Pittsburgh

Maintenance Therapies in Late-Life Depression

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two doses of nortriptyline in elderly patients whose depression returned after stopping treatment. Nortriptyline is an antidepressant.

This study enrolls patients who were treated for depression in an earlier research study and whose depression has returned since stopping treatment. Patients are treated for 4 months to bring the depression under control. Patients are then assigned randomly (like tossing a coin) to receive either the full dose of nortriptyline or half the usual dose of nortriptyline. Patients continue taking nortriptyline for 2 years or until a major depression returns. Throughout the study, patients are monitored for symptoms of depression and other side effects.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

To determine whether elderly (60-80 years old) depressed patients who cannot sustain a remission without medication must be maintained at full acute-treatment dose. To compare the efficacy of full-dose vs half-dose nortriptyline (NT) in preventing recurrences of major depression in the elderly. To determine whether those patients who experience a recurrence while in a maintenance placebo condition (Study I) require 100 percent of their acute-treatment dose of NT to prevent subsequent recurrences or can be successfully maintained on 50 percent of their acute-treatment dose (Study II).

Investigators expect a pool of 60 patients from Study I to become eligible for Study II (the full-dose/half-dose maintenance trial). After treatment of the recurrence and following 16 weeks of stabilization therapy, patients are randomized to 1 of 2 maintenance therapy cells: full-dose NT or half-dose NT. Maintenance lasts 2 years or until recurrence of major depression. The following are assessed: differences in recurrence rates and time to recurrence under full-dose vs half-dose conditions; differences in symptomatic ratings of depression, suicidal ideation, social adjustment, and side effects; and differences in compliance rates as determined by variability in level-to-dose (L/D) ratios. Exploratory data analyses are used to generate a hypothetical profile of elderly patients who can remain well on half-dose maintenance nortriptyline.

For information on related studies, please follow these links:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00178100

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00177671

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

60 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

-

Patients must have:

Recurrence of major depression while in a maintenance placebo condition in the currently funded maintenance therapy protocol (Study I).

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

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Charles Reynolds, MD

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

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

March 1, 1989

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2000

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2000

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 2, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 2, 1999

First Posted (Estimate)

November 3, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 21, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 20, 2013

Last Verified

June 1, 2013

More Information

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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