Frovatriptan as a Transitional Therapy in Medication Overuse Headache

April 17, 2019 updated by: Farnaz Amoozegar, University of Calgary
This study will analyze the effectiveness of a medication called Frovatriptan, in the context of medication overuse headache (MOH). MOH is a headache that develops when pain-killers are taken frequently. The treatment is to stop the overuse of these pain-killers, but that can sometimes worsen the headache first before it gets better. We are testing Frovatriptan against placebo to see if it can help patients with this transition and avoid the worsening of the headache that can occur. We will also see if Frovatriptan can help in other ways, such as maintain patients free of medication overuse.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A single-centre, randomized, placebo-controlled trial is proposed to assess Frovatriptan as a transitional therapy in patients diagnosed with medication overuse headache. Currently, there are no proven transitional therapies to help patients get through the detoxification process. Frovatriptan has not been tested as a transitional therapy in the past. This study will compare Frovatriptan, taken over a 10 day transitional period, to placebo. The primary outcome of the study will be the mean headache intensity in the 10 day transitional period in the Frovatriptan group as compared to the placebo group. A number of secondary and exploratory outcomes will also be determined and further data collection will occur at 1, 2, and 3 month periods. The duration of the study for the participants will be 3 months, and they will be asked to keep detailed headache diaries during this time. Ten days of baseline headache diaries will also be performed before patients can enter the study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

55

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3M 1M4
        • South Health Campus

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 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • MOH diagnosed by IHS criteria
  • Diagnosis of migraine (with or without aura) in past by IHS criteria
  • If patients do not have a baseline diary, then a prospective diary for a 10-day period will be done to confirm medication overuse before study entry.
  • Patients aged 18 to 65 years.
  • Normal neurological examination.
  • Patient is willing and able (in terms of capacity) to sign informed consent.
  • Patient is able to understand and complete study protocol, including completion of headache diaries.
  • Patient has a stable medical condition.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Headache not meeting IHS criteria for MOH.
  • Presence of hemiplegic, basilar, ophthalmoplegic migraine or migrainous infarction.
  • Findings on history, neurological exam, or neuroimaging suggestive of secondary causes of headache.
  • Post-whiplash or post-traumatic headaches.
  • Contraindications to triptans (such as heart disease, peripheral vascular disease or uncontrolled hypertension) or previous serious side effects/intolerance.
  • Major psychiatric conditions (such as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, addiction), either diagnosed by a physician or positive on standard clinic assessment tools (e.g. BDI questionnaire).
  • Major medical conditions or treatments that may interfere with the patient's ability to participate in the study, such as dementia, advanced or terminal cancer, chemotherapy, etc.
  • Patient is pregnant, breastfeeding, or is expecting to conceive within the time period of the study. Pregnancy will be determined using a urine test.
  • Women of childbearing potential who are not using a reliable method of contraception.
  • Patient is a recent user of illicit/recreational drugs or plans to use illicit drugs during the study time period.
  • Patient has a recent history of alcohol abuse or dependence, or plans to abuse alcohol during the study duration.
  • Patient is unlikely to comply with the study protocol, keep diaries and appointments, or does not have a fixed telephone or address.
  • Patient is enrolled in another study or trial that may interfere with their participation or the results of this study.
  • Patients with greater than 30% of their data missing during the ten days of baseline diary data collection.
  • Patients with mean headache intensities of less than 3 (from a pain scale of 0 to 10, where 0=no pain and 10=pain as bad as possible) during the 10-day baseline period.
  • Patients with ongoing Botox treatments or those who have received Botox in the last 4 months.

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
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
10 days of treatment with placebo in a bid fashion that will look like the study medication.
Drug: Placebo
1 tab po bid for 10 days
Experimental: Frovatriptan
Frovatriptan 2.5 mg po bid for 10 days
Drug: Frovatriptan
2.5 mg po bid for 10 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The mean headache intensity in the 10 day transitional period in the Frovatriptan group as compared to the placebo group.
Time Frame: After 10 days of therapy
After 10 days of therapy

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The difference in mean headache intensity between the 10 day transitional period and the baseline period.
Time Frame: After 10 days of therapy
After 10 days of therapy
The number of day segments with headache of grade 6 or higher during the 10 day transitional period and during days 11-20 of the study.
Time Frame: After 10 days and after 20 days
After 10 days and after 20 days
Number of headache-free days (grade zero) for first two months of study.
Time Frame: After 2 months
After 2 months
Proportion of patients free of medication overuse for first two months of study (i.e. less than 15 days of simple analgesic use or less than 10 days of other analgesic use per month).
Time Frame: After 2 months
After 2 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Calgary

Collaborators

Alberta Health services

Investigators

  • Study Director: Werner J Becker, MD, FRCPC, University of Calgary
  • Principal Investigator: Farnaz Amoozegar, MD, FRCPC, University of Calgary

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, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 17, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

April 17, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 5, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

January 7, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 18, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 17, 2019

Last Verified

April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 22522

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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