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

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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

Interventional

Phase

  • 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

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

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

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

October 1, 2003

Study Completion

March 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 14, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 14, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

April 15, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 21, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 20, 2009

Last Verified

May 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID 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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