Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate if the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder can be increased by combining it with D-cycloserine (TCC/D-cycloserine) by comparing with a placebo (TCC/placebo).
Detailed description
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most frequent anxiety disorder in the general population (Kessler and al., 2005). Currently, the treatment of choice for PTSD is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT; Foa, Davidson and Frances, 1999). Based on remission rates after treatment, successful outcomes of CBT for PTSD vary between 46 and 54 % when dropouts are considered, and between 56 and 70% among those who completed their therapy (Bradley and al., 2005). Thus, there is room for improvement. Recently, the results of two published studies on the treatment of phobia of heights (Ressler and al., 2004) and social phobia (Hofman, 2006) indicated that the efficacy of CBT was increased by adding D-cycloserine. The superior efficacy of CBT/D-cycloserine over CBT/Placebo in the treatment of anxiety disorders can result from a greater release of glutamate, a substance facilitating the extinction of fear (Davis, Myers, Ressler and Rothbaum, 2005; Richardson, Ledgerwood an Cranney, 2004). However, to our knowledge, no study has yet compared CBT/D-cycloserine to CBT/Placebo in the treatment of PTSD. The main hypothesis of the current study is that the efficacy of CBT for PTSD will be increased when combined with D-cycloserine compared to a placebo.
Interventions
DRUGD-cycloserine
BEHAVIORALCognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Sponsors
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en santé Mentale de Montréal
Université de Montréal
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Clinical diagnosis of PTSD * No other Axix I disorder of higher intensity than PTSD * Accept not to start a psychopharmacological treatment before and during the participation to the project
Exclusion criteria
* Substance abuse * Psychotic episodes (past or current) * Bipolar disorder * Organic caused mental disorder * Intellectual deficiency * Pregnant or breast-feeding woman * Épilepsy
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Clinician-administered measures collected at initial assessment, post-treatment and six-months follow-up: | — |
| CAPS: PTSD symptoms | — |
| SCID: AXIS I disorders | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Patient self-report forms collected at initial assessment, post-treatment and six-months follow-up: | — |
| WHOQL-Bref: quality of life | — |
| BDI: depression symptoms | — |
| BAI: anxiety symptoms | — |
Countries
Canada
Contacts
Primary ContactSarah Jane Parent
Backup ContactCindy Beaudoin
Outcome results
None listed