Study Comparing Patients Taking Olanzapine and Patients Taking Aripiprazole on Learning of Vocational Skills

April 5, 2013 updated by: Dawn Velligan, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Do Patients Taking Aripiprazole Learn More in Vocational Skills Training Than Patients Taking Olanzapine?

STUDY PURPOSE: To study whether patients who have schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and are randomly assigned to switch to aripiprazole prior to participation in a brief vocational skills training (VST) will have improved cognitive functioning and learn more in VST than those randomly assigned to stay on olanzapine. There is evidence that VST is important in improving role functioning for schizophrenia patients, however, cognitive impairments limit the ability of some patients to benefit from skills training approaches. Patients switched from olanzapine to aripiprazole improve in terms of verbal learning and verbal learning has been shown to be a strong predictor of community outcome. It is unclear whether the cognitive benefits of switching to aripiprazole extend to improve learning of vocational skills.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Many schizophrenia outpatients have cognitive deficits and poor vocational functioning. There is evidence from randomized controlled trials that vocational skills training is important in improving vocational role functioning for schizophrenia patients. However, it has become clear that cognitive impairments limit the ability of patients to benefit from skills training approaches. Recent research demonstrates that patients switched from olanzapine to aripiprazole improve in terms of verbal learning. Verbal learning has been found to be a strong predictor of multiple domains of community outcome. It is unclear whether the cognitive benefits of switching to aripiprazole extend to improve learning of vocational skills. This study examines whether aripiprazole can improve the ability to benefit from expensive rehabilitation programs focused on skill-building. Specifically, the study examines whether patients who switch from olanzapine to aripiprazole learn more and benefit more from a brief vocational skills program than patients who remain on olanzapine. Specific aims are as follows: (1) we hypothesize that patients on aripiprazole will demonstrate better scores on tests of cognitive functioning following twelve weeks of medication treatment than patients on olanzapine and (2) we hypothesize that patients on aripiprazole will have significantly higher scores on vocational performance following a brief (2-day) vocational training and assessment session than those on olanzapine. Furthermore, we hypothesize that these gains will be maintained following one week of non-exposure to the trained vocational tasks.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

43

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
    • Texas
      • San Antonio, Texas, United States, 78229
        • The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

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 52 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
  • Between ages of 18 and 52
  • On olanzapine for a minimum of 3 months prior to participation
  • Outpatient status for at least 3 months
  • Vision and hearing intact or corrected to extent that will allow participation in vocational training and cognitive testing
  • Score in impaired range on at least one test from a cognitive battery designed to be sensitive to impairments in schizophrenia
  • Ability to participate in the informed consent process, as evidenced by an assessment of the capacity to give consent for research developed by the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (DeRenzo et al., 1998).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of head injury, mental retardation or neurological disorder
  • Below a 4th grade reading level (32) according to the WRAT-3
  • Taking multiple atypical antipsychotics
  • Taking any decanoate antipsychotic
  • Hospitalization in last 3 months
  • Employment
  • Alcohol or drug abuse that interferes with functioning or medication compliance

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

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Toilet Tank Assembly Task at 13 and 14 weeks
Card Sorting Task at baseline, 13 and 14 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale at baseline and 13 week
Negative Symptom Assessment at baseline and 13 week
Global Assessment of Functioning Scale at baseline and 13 week
Social and Occupational Functioning Scale at baseline and 13 week
Work portion of Test of Adaptive Behaviors in Schizophrenia at baseline and 13 week
STAN neurocognitive tests at baseline and 13 week
Trails A at baseline and 13 week
Trails Aa at baseline and 13 week
Trails B at baseline and 13 week

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Collaborators

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dawn I Velligan, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio
  • Study Director: Mary D. Woolsey, M.S., The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

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, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 22, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 8, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 5, 2013

Last Verified

April 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 023-0013-300

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 Schizoaffective Disorder

Clinical Trials on aripiprazole

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Azerbaijan

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe