Unipolar Depression
Conditions
Keywords
Depression, Elderly, Late Life
Brief summary
This study will evaluate the effectiveness of paroxetine versus interpersonal psychotherapy and a combination of the two in helping elderly patients with depression remain well and improve quality of their lives.
Detailed description
This is primarily a study of maintenance therapies, not a study of acute therapeutic efficacy, in late-life major depression. The study aims to identify factors that encourage maintenance of treatment gains and to identify which patients need which kinds of treatment to remain well. The following questions are to be addressed: * Is the probability of recurrence different among the treatment groups? * What variables may be related to, or predictive of, differences among groups? * After 1 to 2 years of maintenance therapy, will patients assigned to maintenance combined treatment with both paroxetine and interpersonal psychotherapy remain well at higher rates than patients assigned to paroxetine alone, interpersonal psychotherapy alone, or placebo? * Will the time to recurrence differ across treatment groups, and what variables may be related to, or predictive of, time to recurrence? The major study hypothesis is that combined treatment with paroxetine and interpersonal psychotherapy will be superior to either treatment alone (and to placebo) in preventing recurrence of major depressive episodes in patients aged 70 and above. For information on related studies, please follow these links: http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00000377 http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00177671
Interventions
BEHAVIORALInterpersonal Psychotherapy
DRUGparoxetine
Sponsors
University of Pittsburgh
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
69 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 69 or older * meets DSM-IV criteria for current unipolar major depression * HRSD (17 item) score of 15 or higher * Folstein Mini Mental Status exam score of 18 or higher
Exclusion criteria
* Lifetime diagnosis of any psychotic disorder or bipolar disorder * alcohol or drug abuse within the past six months * MATTIS Dementia Rating Score of 120 or less * Contraindication to SSRI therapy * Hyponatremia
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Combined treatment with paroxetine and interpersonal psychotherapy will be superior to either treatment alone (and to placebo)in preventing recurrence of major depressive episodes in patients aged 70 and above. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Cognitive status: Folstein Mini-Mental Status Exam, MATTIS Dementia Rating Scale, EXIT, and CDR | — |
| Quality of Life measures: Quality of Wellbeing Scale, CIDI Health Services Utilization, Older American Resources and Services Activities of Daily Living Scale, Global Assessment Scale, PSQI, SF-36, UKU, and CIRS-G | — |
| Social Support: Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, Luben Social Network Scale; and Life Events and Difficulties Schedule | — |
| Psychiatric status: SCID, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Suicidal History Questionnaire, Antidepressant Treatment History Form, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and anxiety subscale of Brief Symptom Inventory | — |
| MRI | — |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed