An Open-Label Trial of Buspirone for the Treatment of Anxiety in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders

March 15, 2023 updated by: Gagan Joshi, Massachusetts General Hospital

An Open-label Trial of Buspirone for the Treatment of Anxiety in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders

The main objective of this exploratory 8-week pilot study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of buspirone for the treatment of anxiety in youth (ages 6-17 years) with autism spectrum disorders. The study results will be used to generate hypothesis for a larger randomized controlled clinical trials with explicit hypotheses and sufficient statistical power.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

9

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
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
        • Massachusetts General Hospital

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

6 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male or female participants between 6 and 17 years of age
  • Fulfills diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders by meeting DSM-IV-TR PDD diagnostic criteria of autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, or PDD-NOS as established by clinical diagnostic interview
  • Participants with a score of ≥13 on the Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS)
  • Participants with a score of ≥60 or more on the Anxiety/Depression subscale of CBCL and CGI-Anxiety severity of ≥ 4
  • Subjects can be on psychotropic drugs if they have been on the medication for at least 4 weeks prior to initiating trial treatment and if they are stable, provided the medication is not listed in the Concomitant Medications section of the protocol.
  • Subjects with disruptive behavior disorders, mood, or psychosis will be allowed to participate in the study provided they do not meet any exclusionary criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • I.Q. < 70
  • DSM-IV-TR PDD diagnoses of Rett's disorder, and childhood disintegrative disorder
  • History of active seizure disorder (EEG suggestive of seizure activity and/or history of seizure in last 1 month)
  • Subjects with a medical condition or treatment that will either jeopardize subject safety or affect the scientific merit of the study, including:
  • Pregnant or nursing females
  • Organic brain disorders
  • Uncorrected hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism
  • Clinically significant abnormalities on ECG (e.g., QT prolongation, arrhythmia)
  • History of renal or hepatic impairment
  • Clinically unstable psychiatric conditions or judged to be at serious suicidal risk
  • Current diagnosis of schizophrenia
  • History of substance use (except nicotine or caffeine) within past 3 months or urine drug screen positive for substances of abuse
  • Current treatment with medication with primary central nervous system activity (as specified in the Concomitant Medication section of the protocol)
  • A non-responder or history of intolerance to buspirone, after treatment at an adequate dose and duration as determined by the clinician
  • Subjects currently taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI) and/or CYP3A4 inducers or inhibitors including nefazodone, diltiazem, verapamil, erythromaycin, itraconazole, or rifampin.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Buspirone
Buspirone administered in tablets twice daily titrated to a maximum daily dose of 60mg for 8 weeks.
Drug: Buspirone
Children with autism spectrum disorders will receive buspirone treatment for eight weeks. Buspirone will be titrated to the maximum daily dose during the first four weeks of the trial (dose titration phase). Week 4 onwards, subjects will be maintained on maximum achieved dose until the end of the trial (dose maintenance pahe). During the titration phase, total dose will be increased by 10mg at each visit and by 5mg on the 4th day after each visit.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Reduction in Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS) score
Time Frame: Baseline to 8 weeks
Primary outcome measure of efficacy will be assessed by reduction in anxiety symptom severity as measured by change from baseline. Responders are defined as >/=30% reduction in PARS score.
Baseline to 8 weeks
Clinical Global Impression-Anxiety (CGI-Anxiety) Improvement Score
Time Frame: Baseline to 8 weeks
Primary outcome measure of efficacy will be assessed by reduction in anxiety symptom severity as measured by Clinical Global Impression-Anxiety (CGI-Anxiety). Responders are defined as a score of </=2 on the improvement sub scale.
Baseline to 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

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 (Actual)

July 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2023

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 22, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

May 9, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 17, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2013-P-000661

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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