Craving, Binge Eating and Obesity

April 1, 2020 updated by: Yale University

Placebo-Controlled Trial of Bupropion for the Treatment of Binge Eating Disorder

This research study is designed to look at the effectiveness of bupropion for reducing binge eating in overweight persons with binge eating problems. Participants in the study will receive either bupropion or placebo ("sugar" pill, inactive medication) as an outpatient for eight weeks. In addition, participants will be given the option to receive 8 weeks of free behavioral weight loss treatment. This treatment, known to be effective for reducing binge eating and helping people lose weight, will be administered following the medication phase and at no cost.

It is expected that compared to placebo, bupropion will produce greater reductions in binge eating.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The proposed study is an 8-week randomized placebo-controlled trial to test the efficacy of bupropion in treating overweight women with binge eating disorder (BED). Bupropion is an antidepressant that has demonstrated efficacy in smoking cessation and some efficacy in obesity treatment. Since cravings and depressed mood are hypothesized to contribute to binge eating episodes, bupropion is a promising psychopharmacological agent in treating binge eating and reducing weight. It is hypothesized that compared to placebo, bupropion will produce significantly greater reductions in the frequency of binge eating. Secondary goals are to explore interrelationships between treatment and changes in cravings, frequency of binge episodes, emotional eating, and weight loss. Following the medication phase of the trial, all patients will be offered 8 weeks of behavioral weight loss treatment administered by doctoral-level psychologists specializing in eating disorders and weight management.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

61

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

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

    • Connecticut
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06520
        • Yale University School of Medicine

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

14 years to 61 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • BMI 25-50
  • Able to travel to clinical site (New Haven, CT) for bi-weekly visits.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Predisposition to seizures
  • History of anorexia or bulimia nervosa
  • Current Type I or Type II diabetes mellitus

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: 2
Placebo
Placebo
Experimental: 1
Bupropion
300 mg per day for 8 weeks
Other Names:
  • wellbutrin
  • zyban

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Frequency of Binge Eating Episodes
Time Frame: One week (at post treatment)
One week (at post treatment)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percent BMI Loss
Time Frame: 8 weeks (baseline and 8 weeks)
Percent loss in Body Mass Index
8 weeks (baseline and 8 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marney A. White, PhD, Yale University

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

December 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 20, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 20, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

December 21, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 3, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2020

Last Verified

April 1, 2020

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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