Single Versus Combination Medication Treatment for Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Project1)

July 9, 2021 updated by: James McCracken, University of California, Los Angeles

An Eight-Week, Randomized, Double-Blind Comparison of Guanfacine, Focalin XR, and the Combination, With a Twelve Month Open-Label Extension for the Treatment of ADHD in Pediatric Subjects Aged 7 to 14 Years

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a single drug versus a combination of drugs in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood mental disorders. Children with ADHD have impaired functioning in multiple settings, including home and school. They also have difficulty relating with peers. If left untreated, the disorder may cause adverse effects that can last into adolescence and adulthood. Stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate, are effective in reducing ADHD symptoms on a short-term basis. However, few long-term benefits in academic or general functioning from current ADHD therapies have been demonstrated. Focalin XR is a stimulant medication that is FDA-approved for treating ADHD. Guanfacine is another medication that is currently approved for the treatment of hypertension, but has long been used for treating ADHD. This study will determine the effectiveness of a combination of Focalin XR and guanfacine in enhancing cognitive functioning and improving the long-term benefit of ADHD treatment.

Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to one of three treatment regimens: Methylphenidate (Focalin XR) and placebo; guanfacine and placebo; or Focalin XR and guanfacine. The study will be conducted in two phases: an 8-week double-blind treatment phase and a 12-month open-label treatment phase. In Phase I, one third of participants will receive placebo for the initial 4 weeks, followed by Focalin XR alone for the remaining 4 weeks. All other participants will receive their assigned medications for the full 8 weeks. All participants will attend two study visits prior to beginning treatment and one study visit per week throughout Phase I. At the end of Phase I, treatment assignments will be unblinded. Participants who experienced adequate improvement with their assigned treatment will then continue in Phase II on the same medication(s) for an additional 12 months. Participants will attend study visits once per month until the end of the study. Study visits will include self-report measures, clinical assessments, and cognitive testing. Participants will also undergo four electroencephalography (EEG) tests and two fMRI scans over the course of the study. All Phase II participants will receive a follow-up telephone call 1 month after the final study visit.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

212

Phase

  • Phase 4

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
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
        • University of California Los Angeles

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

5 years to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of DSM-IV ADHD by K-SADS-PL and confirmed by clinical interview
  • Clinical Global Impression-Severity score of at least 4 for ADHD
  • Resided with primary caretaker for at least 6 months prior to study entry

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of autism, pervasive developmental disorder, chronic tic disorder, psychosis, or bipolar disorder
  • Current major depression or panic disorder
  • Systolic or diastolic blood pressure at screening greater than the 95th percentile or less than the 5th percentile for age and body mass index (BMI)
  • Any medical condition that might make stimulant or alpha agonist therapy medically inadvisable
  • Need for chronic use of other medications with central nervous system effects
  • Pregnant, breastfeeding, or beyond menarche and has a positive urine pregnancy test
  • History of structural heart defects, syncope, or fainting while exercising
  • Clinically significant cardiac abnormality as determined by echocardiogram (ECG) at study entry
  • Mental retardation as determined by clinical functional assessment and an IQ estimate of less than 70 based on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) subtests

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Group 1: Guan-Guan+Placebo
weeks 1-4: Guanfacine weeks 5-8: Guanfacine + Placebo
Drug: Guanfacine
Week 1: 0.5 mg twice daily; Week 2: 1 mg twice daily; Week 3: 1.5 mg twice daily; Weeks 4 through 8: best dose as determined by efficacy measures
Other Names:
  • Tenex
Active Comparator: Group 2: Placebo-Placebo+DMPH
weeks 1-4: Placebo weeks 5-8: Placebo+DMPH
Drug: Methylphenidate (MPH)
Participants less than 25 kg will receive 10 mg once daily for Week 5, 20 mg once daily for Week 6, and 30 mg once daily for Week 7. Subjects greater than 25 kg will receive 20 mg once daily for Week 5, 30 mg once daily for Week 6, 40 mg once daily for Week 7, and best doses as determined by efficacy measures for Week 8.
Other Names:
  • Focalin XR
Experimental: Group 3: Guan-Guan+DMPH (Comb)
weeks 1-4: Guanfacine weeks 5-8: Guanfacine+DMPH
Drug: Guanfacine
Week 1: 0.5 mg twice daily; Week 2: 1 mg twice daily; Week 3: 1.5 mg twice daily; Weeks 4 through 8: best dose as determined by efficacy measures
Other Names:
  • Tenex
Drug: Methylphenidate (MPH)
Participants less than 25 kg will receive 10 mg once daily for Week 5, 20 mg once daily for Week 6, and 30 mg once daily for Week 7. Subjects greater than 25 kg will receive 20 mg once daily for Week 5, 30 mg once daily for Week 6, 40 mg once daily for Week 7, and best doses as determined by efficacy measures for Week 8.
Other Names:
  • Focalin XR

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
ADHD IV Rating Scale (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale)
Time Frame: Measured at baseline Week 4 and Week 8

The primary clinical efficacy variable for treatment was the ADHD-RS-IV (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale) Total Score and two sub-scales (Inattentive and Hyperactive-Impulsive ).

The rating scale has 18 questions with answer options: None (0), Mild (1), Moderate (2) and Severe (3). Min 0; max 3.

Scores are obtained by summing each item; The higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Total score range: 0-54 Total Inattentive score range: 0-27 Total Hyperactive/Impulsive score range: 0-27
Measured at baseline Week 4 and Week 8

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: James T. McCracken, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Study Director: James J. McGough, MD, University of California, Los Angeles

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.

General Publications

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, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 29, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

January 31, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2021

Last Verified

July 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • P50MH077248-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • 10-000453 (Other Identifier: Office for Protection of Human Subjects)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

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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