Treatment of Non-Cardiac Chest Pain With Imipramine or Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Psychophysiological Interactions in Non-Cardiac Chest Pain

Approximately 75,000-150,000 patients each year in the United States undergo intensive cardiac evaluations for symptoms of angina-like chest pain that produce no positive findings. These patients often have high levels of disability and suffering and account for $250,000,000-$500,000,000 in estimated health care costs each year. There is some evidence from randomized, controlled trials that a pharmacologic agent, imipramine, and a program of training in pain coping skills and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) both produce short-term reductions in pain intensity. However, no studies have compared the effects of these two treatments on measures of pain, suffering, and disability at post-treatment and over a one-year follow-up period.

Our investigation is a 16-week, randomized controlled outcome study of these interventions and their respective placebo control procedures. One hundred and sixty patients are being recruited for this study. We will assess the effects of our interventions on patients' pain levels, quality of life, and health care resource usage at baseline, post-treatment, 6-month follow-up, and at 12-month follow-up. We will evaluate the clinical significance of our treatment effects as well as their statistical significance.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Phase 3

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

    • Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294
        • University of Alabama at Birmingham

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 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Substernal chest pain at least 2X per week for at least 3 months;
  • Angiographic evidence of normal or non-obstructive (<50% luminal diameter narrowing) coronary arteries among subjects > 40 years of age; OR Normal exercise stress tests, normal echocardiogram, and cardiologist evaluation that symptoms are not cardiac in origin among subjects < 40 years of age;
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease ruled out by 24-hour pH monitoring, endoscopy, or 1-month trial of anti-reflux therapy with omeprazole 20 mg bid;
  • Pain threshold levels for esophageal balloon distention must be 12 ml.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Mitral valve prolapse

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
  • Masking: Single

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Laurence A. Bradley, University of Alabama at Birmingham

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

January 1, 1999

Study Completion

December 1, 2002

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 1, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 1, 2000

First Posted (Estimate)

May 2, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 13, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2010

Last Verified

January 1, 2010

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.

Clinical Trials on Chest Pain

Clinical Trials on Imipramine

3
Subscribe