A Study of the Effectiveness and Safety of Topiramate Versus Placebo for Preventing Chronic Migraine Headaches

A Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Topiramate Versus Placebo for the Prophylaxis of Chronic Migraine

The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and effectiveness of topiramate as compared to placebo for the prevention of headaches in patients with chronic migraine. Topiramate has been approved to prevent migraine headaches as well as in the treatment of epilepsy.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Migraine headaches can be disabling and can interfere with work and a person's quality of life. Preventing these headaches before they start is the best option. Topiramate, an anti-seizure medication, has been shown to help prevent migraine headaches from occurring. This is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study of patients with chronic migraine. The Pretreatment Phase for the study will last up to 56 days and will consist of 2 study periods: a Screening/Washout Period (Day -56 to Day -29) and a Prospective Baseline Period (28 days). Medications being used to prevent migraines will be stopped for 14 to 28 days prior to the Prospective Baseline Period and for the rest of the study. The Prospective Baseline Period will begin on study Day -28 (Visit 2), and patients will maintain a daily headache record during this period. Those who move forward in the study must have had at least 15 headache days during this period, half of which need to be migraine headache days. Patients who finish the Prospective Baseline Period, who have the required rates of headache, and who continue to meet the remainder of the entry criteria will be randomized (like with the toss of a coin) to 1 of 2 treatment groups: topiramate 100 milligrams per day or placebo. The Double-Blind Phase will last 16 weeks. During the first 4 weeks, patients will titrate up to the topiramate dose of 100 milligrams per day or to the maximum tolerated dose, whichever is less. The next 12 weeks is the maintenance phase where you will continue to take the dose that you were taking at the end of the 4-week titration period. The primary hypothesis of this study is that the mean decrease in the number of migraine/migrainous headache days per month is greater in the topiramate group than in the placebo group and topiramate is generally well-tolerated.

Topiramate 25 milligram tablets, 2 tablets by mouth twice daily, or maximum tolerated dose, whichever is less, for 12 weeks, or 2 placebo tablets twice daily for 12 weeks

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

328

Phase

  • Phase 3

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:

  • Diagnosis of chronic migraine
  • >=15 headache days per month in past 30 days
  • >= 15 headache days, half of which need to be migraine headaches during the prospective baseline period
  • MIDAS test score >= 11 at Visit 1
  • In generally good health
  • If female, using birth control
  • No abnormalities on neurological examination

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Failed > 2 adequate trials of migraine prevention medications
  • Failed topiramate due to lack of effectiveness or adverse events
  • Daily headaches of severe intensity during past 30 days
  • Cluster, basilar, ophthalmoplegic, or hemiplegic migraines
  • Migraines started after age 50
  • Other pain greater than migraine pain
  • Use of drugs to treat migraines for > 4 days per week during the past month

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Change in the average number of days per month with migraine or migrainous headache by daily headache record.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Absolute change and % change from baseline in the headache index; change in the average daily and worst daily headache severity; quality of life assessments (MIDAS, MSQ, Physician's/Subject's global assessments of change.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

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

September 1, 2003

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 21, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 10, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 8, 2011

Last Verified

April 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.

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