Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Escitalopram for Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD)

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Pharmacotherapy Augmentation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Investigation

The goals of this pilot study are as follows:

1) To disseminate and examine the effectiveness of a manualized, individual, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) for adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD), 2) to test the effectiveness of augmentation (the addition of) antidepressant therapy in participants who do not fully respond to CBT, and 3) to examine individual and clinical predictors of non-response to CBT and predictors of response to augmentation antidepressant therapy. A related goal is to examine the maintenance of treatment gains obtained from CBT alone and CBT with augmentation antidepressant therapy, over a twenty-four month follow-up period. This study will serve as a pilot investigation in preparation for a larger federally funded study using this treatment approach. We hypothesize that CBT will result in remission (no longer having GAD) and/or high endstate functioning (clinically meaningful improvement) in approximately 40-50% of participants. Further, we hypothesize that augmentation antidepressant therapy in participants who do not fully respond to CBT will result in further clinically significant improvement.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Drug: escitalopram

Detailed Description

This pilot investigation will examine the effectiveness of augmenting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with antidepressant pharmacotherapy (escitalopram[Lexapro]) in adults with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) who do not fully respond to a temporally primary trial of CBT. A secondary aim of this study is to assess the maintenance of treatment gains made by patients in response to CBT, and to CBT with antidepressant augmentation therapy, over a two-year follow-up period.

CBT is an empirically supported psychotherapy that has been found to be effective in treating GAD in approximately 50 percent of patients enrolled in controlled clinical trials. However, a substantial proportion (nearly half) of individuals with GAD do not achieve full remission or clinically significant improvement at the cessation of CBT. Escitalopram (Lexapro)is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant, which has been shown to be effective in treating GAD in several large-scale controlled clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration has approved ecitalopram for the treatment of GAD.

The proposed research plan encompasses the conduct of an open clinical trial (No randomized placebo control) of 14 sessions of manualized individual CBT for persons meeting DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for GAD. This study will use a treatment manual developed by Dr. Thomas Borkovec and colleagues at the Pennsylvania State University. Participants who meet high endstate functioning criteria and/or achieve remission following CBT will be evaluated periodically during a twenty-four month follow-up phase. Participants who do not meet high endstate functioning criteria and/or achieve remission following completion of CBT will be offered entry into a twelve-week, open-label, flexible-dose trial of escitalopram therapy. Participants receiving escitalopram therapy will be evaluated periodically during a twenty-four month follow-up phase, as well. It is anticipated that patients who do not fully respond to CBT will show a significant increment in improvement in GAD symptoms, over and above their CBT posttreatment level, following pharmacotherapy with escitalopram.

At present, no studies with GAD populations have examined the additive or sequenced effects of psychosocial therapy and SSRI antidepressant pharmacotherapy. The proposed research is a first step in this direction and may provide evidence supporting the use of combined treatment modalities in CBT partial and non-responders.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 25
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Anxiety Disorders Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute

Participation Criteria

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:

1. Males or females between the ages of 18 and 65 (inclusive)
2. Primary DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) with no significant co-morbid anxiety disorder for which CBT for GAD is not appropriate including PTSD, OCD, and prominent panic disorder with or without agoraphobia
3. A negative urine toxicology, i.e., a urine specimen that does not test positive for use of drugs of abuse, or use of benzodiazepines, in the previous three weeks
4. Penn State Worry Questionnaire score of 55 or greater
5. Have a score of equal to or > 4 (Moderately Ill) on Clinical Global Impression (CGI) Scale (severity of illness item) for GAD
6. Ability to give informed consent
7. Fluent in English
8. Willingness to have Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy sessions audiotaped -

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who have a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder within 60 days prior to the clinical interview, and patients who have a "lifetime" history of being diagnosed with one or more of the following disorders: Schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic or Catatonic features, Bipolar I Affective Disorder, or Organic Mental Disease
2. DSM-IV substance abuse or dependence within the past 6 months (except nicotine or caffeine)
3. Active suicidal or homicidal ideation, or judged to be at serious suicide risk
4. Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score of greater than 20 at Screening or Baseline evaluation
5. Any unstable medical or neurological condition
6. Women who are pregnant or lactating
7. Having received CBT treatment for GAD previously
8. Concurrent psychosocial therapy
9. Current psychotropic medication with exception of zolpidem at hs for insomnia
10. History of nonresponse to an adequate trial of escitalopram or intolerable adverse effects to escitalopram -

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Escitalopram; 12 weeks of open label escitalopram, 10-20 mg/day (after 14 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy	Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; 14 weekly sessions of individualized CBT; Drug: escitalopram; 10-20 mg per day for 12 weeks; Other Names: lexapro

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale Score	The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale is a clinician administered rating scale assessing severity of anxiety from 0 (low) to 64 (high). The greater the magnitude of decrease in score during treatment, the greater the improvement in anxiety.	week 14 to week 26
Change in Clinical Global Impressions-Severity Index	7 point scale of overall severity of psychopathology from 1 mildest to 7 most severe.	week 14 to week 26
Change in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale	measures severity of symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, reported as a total score summing 10 items that are each rated from 0, never to 4, all of the time. Range is 0 to 40, with 40 most severe.	week 14 to week 26
Change in Penn State Worry Questionnaire	total score (of 16 items) ranging from 16 (least worry) to 80 (most worry)	week 14 to week 26
Change in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, State Subscale	only the total score of the state anxiey subscale was used. Range is from 20 (mildest) to 80 (most severe)	week 14 to week 26

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement Index	This is a single item rating overall symptomatic improvement. Range is 0 (very much worse) to 7 (very much improved)	week 26
Change in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression	24 item version of this standard depression scale, total score ranges from 0 (not depressed) to 58 (most severe)	week 14 to week 26
Change in Beck Depression Inventory-II	total score ranges from 0 (not depressed) to 63 (most severe)	week 14 to week 26

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: New York State Psychiatric Institute
• Collaborators: Forest Laboratories
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Franklin R. Schneier, M.D., New York State Psychiatric Institute; Principal Investigator: Kenneth D Belzer, Ph.D., New York State Psychiatric Institute

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Schneier FR, Belzer KD, Kishon R, Amsel L, Simpson HB. Escitalopram for persistent symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder after CBT: a pilot study. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2010 Jun;198(6):458-61. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181da4d77.

Helpful Links

• New York State Psychiatric Institute Homepage
• Anxiety Disorders Association of America Homepage

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2005
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 14, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 14, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): September 22, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 19, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2017
• Last Verified: November 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Escitalopram; Behavior Therapy, Cognitive; Anxiety Disorders; Anxiety Neuroses
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Disease; Anxiety Disorders; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Psychotropic Drugs; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors; Neurotransmitter Uptake Inhibitors; Membrane Transport Modulators; Serotonin Agents; Antidepressive Agents; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; Citalopram
• Other Study ID Numbers: #4941

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No