A Medication Trial Combined With Behavior Therapy for Individuals With Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

July 27, 2009 updated by: Massachusetts General Hospital

A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Medication Trial With D-Cycloserine for Individuals With Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Currently Receiving Behavior Therapy

This study examines the efficacy of the medication D-Cycloserine in the reduction of obsessions and compulsions in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). All study participants will receive Exposure and Response Prevention, a common form of behavior therapy for individuals with OCD. Half (50%) of the participants will be randomly assigned to the placebo condition and the other half (50%) will be randomly assigned to receive D-Cycloserine. Because all participants will receive 10 sessions of behavior therapy, all participants are expected to improve from this treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study consists of Behavior Therapy (Exposure and Response Prevention; ERP) for OCD. Specifically, it involves exposure to anxiety-provoking situations and response-prevention of any rituals. ERP has shown to be effective for many individuals with OCD.

All assessments and treatment sessions are at no cost to the patients. 50% of the patients will randomly be assigned to the D-Cycloserine (DCS) condition, and 50% of the patients will be assigned to a placebo condition. D-Cycloserine is FDA-approved for the treatment of Tuberculosis. However, recent research in other anxiety disorders has shown that D-Cycloserine plus Behavior Therapy is more effective than Behavior Therapy alone.

This treatment study has two active conditions. That is, all patients will receive Behavior Therapy and we do expect that everybody will improve from this treatment. However, it may be that those patients in the DCS condition will improve somewhat more than those in the placebo condition.

The treatment will be structured with homework and repeated assessments every 4 weeks. Assessments are extremely important as they guide the treatment and provide the study investigators necessary information about the treatment. The treatment consists of 10 sessions (twice a week) plus post-treatment and follow-up assessments at 1 and 6 months.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

50

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 Locations

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • Hartford, Connecticut, United States, 06106
        • Anxiety Disorders Center, The Institute of Living
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
        • Massachusetts General Hospital

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:

  • Meets diagnosis for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of psychotic disorders
  • History of neurological disorders
  • History of bipolar disorders

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: Quadruple

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
significant reduction of OCD symptoms after the completion of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
significant reduction of depressive symptoms after the completion of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: David Tolin, PhD, Hartford Institute of Living

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

December 1, 2003

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 2, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 2, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

August 3, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 29, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 27, 2009

Last Verified

May 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2003-P-0001325

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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