Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Hyperactivity Treatment in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Effectiveness of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Reduction of Hyperactivity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The proposed study is an internet-based, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which will assess changes in hyperactivity in children ages five through eight with an autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and elevated levels of hyperactivity. In order to answer this question, this study will assess changes in hyperactivity as measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) in children with ASD and elevated baseline levels of hyperactivity who are randomly assigned to use 1.3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily compared to placebo. The overwhelming majority of study procedures, including recruitment, informed consent, assessment of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and collection of baseline and outcome measures will take place over the internet.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Hyperactivity
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Omega-3 Fatty Acids; Other: Placebo

Detailed Description

Families and caregivers of children enrolled in the IAN Research between the age 5-8 and with an established diagnosis of autism will be invited to participate in the study by e-mail. All of these families have previously given consent to be contacted about research opportunities. Families who respond to the e-mail recruitment letter will undergo a brief screening process to determine if the child has any exclusion criteria and to ensure the child is age 5-8, has an autism spectrum disorder, and has elevated baseline levels of hyperactivity. Families will undergo an on-line informed consent process including assent of the child. All participants will be given an opportunity to speak with a study team member should they have any questions about the study or the informed consent process. Participants will sign the informed consent using an electronic signature, a process that has been used previously in the IAN network and approved by the John's Hopkins Institutional Review Board (IRB). Families meeting all eligibility criteria will be randomly assigned and mailed the study medication (omega-3 or placebo) which will be administered to children by the parents twice daily for six weeks. Both the study medication and the matching placebo are an orange-flavored pudding that is specifically designed to be palatable for young children. Assessment of child hyperactivity, social functioning, and overall disease severity will be measured at baseline, three and six weeks by the parents, who will complete on-line standard questionnaires; ABC, Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI).

Side effects will be assessed every week by e-mail, and any report of a side effect will immediately be followed-up with telephone contact from the PI. Although omega-3 fatty acids are extremely safe in the prescribed doses, the PI or another study physician will still be on call 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week to speak to participants about possible adverse events or new medical problems (all enrolled families are provided with this 24-hour emergency phone contact information).

As part of the weekly e-mail reminder, parents will also be asked to log the medication that was provided to their children each day of the previous week to measure medication adherence.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 57
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Multiple Locations, Maryland, United States, 21205
      • This study is open to continental USA

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 year to 4 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Children who are participating in Interactive Autism Network (IAN) Research Families
2. Diagnosis of (Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) by a professional and Social Communication Question (SCQ) score>12
3. Age 5-8
4. Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Hyperactivity subscale (ABC-H)>20

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Children in foster care and each parent must affirm that they are the biological or adoptive parent of the child
2. Allergy to fish
3. Bleeding disorder, current use of anticoagulant or anti-platelet therapy, or recent or planned surgery
4. Any major medical illness that interferes with regular school attendance
5. Current or recent (past six months) use of omega-3 fatty acid
6. Siblings with ASD

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Omega-3 Fatty Acids; Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3 fatty acids will be delivered in orange-flavored pudding packets (Coromega®, Vista, CA). Each packet contains 650 mg of omega-3 fatty acids, 350mg of eicosapentanoic acid (EPA), 230mg of docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and 2,000 mg of fish oil 18/12, and will be given twice daily for a daily dose of 1.3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (and 1.1 grams of DHA + EPA	Drug: Omega-3 Fatty Acids; Omega-3 fatty acids will be delivered in orange-flavored pudding packets (Coromega®, Vista, CA). Each packet contains 650 mg of omega-3 fatty acids, 350mg of eicosapentanoic acid (EPA), 230mg of docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and 2,000 mg of fish oil 18/12, and will be given twice daily for a daily dose of 1.3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (and 1.1 grams of DHA + EPA).; Other Names: Omega-3; N-3 Fatty Acid
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Placebo packets will have same orange-flavored pudding with an identical appearance and taste, but will include safflower oil instead of the fish oil. One placebo packet will be given twice daily.	Other: Placebo; Placebo packets will have same orange-flavored pudding as active Omega-3 fatty acids comparator with an identical appearance and taste, but will include safflower oil instead of the fish oil. One placebo packet will be given twice daily.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Hyperactivity Subscale (ABC-H) Score	The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a 58-item survey. Items are rated on a 4-point scale from "0=no problem" to "3=major problem." Higher scores indicate greater severity. Scores can be computed for five subscales: hyperactivity, lethargy, stereotypical behavior, irritability, and inappropriate speech. The hyperactivity subscale is comprised of 16 items. The outcome measure is the change from baseline to 6 weeks. The total score ranges from 0 to 48.	Baseline, 6 weeks (3 week value to be collected)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Lethargy Subscale Score	The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a 58-item survey. Items are rated on a 4-point scale from "0=no problem" to "3=major problem." Higher scores indicate greater severity. Scores can be computed for five subscales: hyperactivity, lethargy, stereotypical behavior, irritability, and inappropriate speech. The lethargy subscale is comprised of 16 items. The outcome measure is the change from baseline to six weeks in the scale. Total score ranges from 0 to 48.	Baseline, Week 6
Change in Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Stereotypy Subscale Score	The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a 58-item survey. Items are rated on a 4-point scale from "0=no problem" to "3=major problem." Higher scores indicate greater severity. Scores can be computed for five subscales: hyperactivity, lethargy, stereotypical behavior, irritability, and inappropriate speech. The stereotypy subscale is comprised of 7 items. The outcome measure is the change from baseline to six weeks in the scale. Total score ranges from 0 to 21.	Baseline, Week 6
Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Irritability Subscale Score	The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a 58-item survey. Items are rated on a 4-point scale from "0=no problem" to "3=major problem." Higher scores indicate greater severity. Scores can be computed for five subscales: hyperactivity, lethargy, stereotypical behavior, irritability, and inappropriate speech. The irritability subscale is comprised of 15 items. The outcome measure is the change from baseline to six weeks in the scale. Total score ranges from 0 to 45.	Baseline, Week 6
Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Inappropriate Speech Subscale Score	The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a 58-item survey. Items are rated on a 4-point scale from "0=no problem" to "3=major problem." Higher scores indicate greater severity. Scores can be computed for five subscales: hyperactivity, lethargy, stereotypical behavior, irritability, and inappropriate speech. The inappropriate speech subscale is comprised of 4 items. The outcome measure is the change from baseline to six weeks in the scale. Total score ranges from 0 to 12.	Baseline, Week 6
Change in Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) Score	Social interaction will be assessed with the SRS. This scale examines the presence and extent of autistic social impairment and is administered by parents or teachers of children with ASD. Higher scores are indicative of greater severity. Normative data have been derived from a sample of over 1,600 children. A total Total-score of 76 or higher is considered severe and strongly associated with a clinical diagnosis of Autistic Disorder. T-scores of 66 through 75 are interpreted as indicating Moderate deficiencies in reciprocal social behavior that are clinically significant and lead to substantial interference in everyday social interactions, whereas T-scores of 60 to 65 are in the Mild range and indicate mild to moderate deficits in social interaction. T scores of 59 and below are considered to be within typical limits and generally not associated with clinically significant ASD.	Baseline, Week 6
Change in Clinical Global Impression - Improvement (CGI-I) Score	Measures the clinical impression of improvement on a 7-point Likert scale (ranging from 1 - very much improved - to 7 - very much worse) is a commonly used measure of overall improvement in intervention studies of children with ASD. This tool will be completed by the parent and caregiver, and is therefore considered a modified version of the instrument, which is normally completed by a clinician. This is considered an exploratory analysis of this outcome tool since it is being used in a non-standard fashion. The number of participants who "responded" in each group is the number where the parents reported that their child was improved, much improved, or very much improved.	Baseline, Week 6

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.
• Collaborators: University of California, San Francisco
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Paul A Law, M.D., Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Bent S, Hendren RL, Zandi T, Law K, Choi JE, Widjaja F, Kalb L, Nestle J, Law P. Internet-based, randomized, controlled trial of omega-3 fatty acids for hyperactivity in autism. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2014 Jun;53(6):658-66. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2014.01.018. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 26, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 25, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): September 27, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 31, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2020
• Last Verified: August 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Dyskinesias; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Hyperkinesis; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
• Other Study ID Numbers: NA_00068694

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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