Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
| NCT number |
NCT00297739 |
| Other study ID # |
RIS-ATT-401 |
| Secondary ID |
|
| Status |
Completed |
| Phase |
Phase 4
|
| First received |
February 28, 2006 |
| Last updated |
March 15, 2006 |
| Start date |
January 2003 |
| Est. completion date |
April 2005 |
Study information
| Verified date |
March 2006 |
| Source |
Armenteros, Jorge L., M.D., P.A. |
| Contact |
n/a |
| Is FDA regulated |
No |
| Health authority |
United States: Institutional Review Board |
| Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
Primary objectives:
1. To assess the short-term efficacy of risperidone augmentation for treatment-resistant
aggression in children with ADHD.
2. To assess the short-term safety and tolerability of risperidone augmentation in the
same group of subjects.
Description:
Methods and Procedures:
Study Design
The study will be a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of risperidone as an augmenting
agent in 40 children, 7-12 years of age, with ADHD. All subjects would have been treated
first with a stimulant medication as a single agent, but continue to present impulsive
aggression. The active phase of treatment will be four weeks long, during which risperidone
or placebo will be added to a constant dose of stimulant medication. The study will include
a four weeks continuation phase where placebo nonresponders will have the opportunity to
receive risperidone on an open basis.
Subject recruitment
Special time and effort will be devoted to subject recruitment since we recognize that it is
crucial to the study. Our primary recruitment sites are the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
(CAP) outpatient clinic, the psychiatry crisis unit, and the child and adolescent psychiatry
inpatient unit. Clinical staff will identify and refer to the research team potential
candidates for the study. Community referrals will be sought after by means of professional
liaisons and academic presentations at local psychiatric facilities. Possible subjects will
then be scheduled for a full evaluation after telephone screening for inclusion and
exclusion criteria. Recruitment will be continuous until the total number of proposed
subjects (N=40), complete the study.
Inclusion criteria
1. Boys and girls ages 7 to 12 years, inclusive
2. Medical/neurological clearance
3. Meets DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD
4. Treatment with a stimulant medication during the last three weeks
5. Failure to respond to stimulant medication as documented by:
1. Three acts of aggression in the past week, two of which must be acts of physical
aggression against other people, objects, or self
2. Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) Predatory-Affective index score of 0 or below. This
indicates primarily an affective or impulsive subtype of aggression
3. Minimum CGI scale rating of 4 (moderately ill)
6. IQ > 75
Exclusion criteria
1. Major medical problems such as cardiac, renal, thyroid diseases, and seizure disorder
2. History of alcohol or substance abuse within the last 4 weeks
3. Previous adequate treatment with risperidone (2 mg/day for at least 4 weeks)
4. Acutely suicidal or homicidal
5. Unable to sign informed consent
Assessment Instruments and Scales
1. Aggression
Understanding an aggressive episode is clearly complicated by the need to numerically
quantify it. Being a low frequency behavior, aggression presents a challenge to the
systematic assessment required in a research study. We will employ the Children’s
Aggression Scale, Parent (CAS-P) and Teacher (CAS-T) versions (Halperin et al., 2002)
to measure retrospectively the frequency and severity of four categories of aggression:
(1) verbal aggression, (2) aggression against objects and animals, (3) provoked
physical aggression, and (4) initiated physical aggression. Responders complete a
Likert scale to evaluate the frequency of an act. A distinction is made between
aggressive acts directed toward persons who live in the home and those who do not, and
also between acts directed toward peers and those directed towards adults. The
frequency of aggressive events is multiplied by its designated severity weight factor
and then summed to yield a total score. We modified the instrument so that only the
occurrence of impulsive aggressive events over the previous one-week period is rated
(see Appendix). These “event” types of variables fall in the category of “impulsive
aggression” as defined above. Parents/guardians and teachers will be the respondents
for this scale.
Vitiello and associates (1990, 1997) studied aggressive behaviors in children and
adolescents and developed the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) to classify aggression into
“predatory” and “affective” subtypes. Subsequently, Malone et al., (1998) modified the
instrument by making it a parent interview and increasing the range of scoring. The
modified version, which will be used in this study, is a 16-item scale consisting of
eight items that assess predatory aggression and eight items that assess affective
aggression. Items are scored as not true (0), partly true (1), or very true (2).
Predatory and affective scores are obtained by adding the corresponding items with a
possible range from 0 to 16. The Predatory-Affective index is calculated by subtracting
the affective score from the predatory score. Higher index scores indicate a
predominantly predatory type of aggression while lower scores indicate primarily an
affective subtype. This affective aggression is viewed as an overreaction to a minor
provocation often accompanied by disinhibition and behavioral dyscontrol,
characteristically impulsive. The AQ differentiated responders from nonresponders to
lithium treatment in a group of aggressive conduct-disordered children (Malone et al.,
1998).
2. ADHD Symptoms
The Continuous Performance Test (CPT; Conners, 1995) consists of a series of letters
presented on a computer screen in rapid succession. The subject is required to press a key
whenever a target stimulus is presented, and to refrain from pressing the key when the
nontarget stimulus is presented. The CPT generates separate measures of inattention and
impulsivity. The impulsivity score is derived from a combination of commission errors and
hit reaction times. T-scores of 60 or above on commission errors and hit reaction times will
be considered as an indication of impulsivity.
The ADHD Index (Conners, 1997) - Because of its brevity (12 items) and excellent
psychometric properties, this index is well suited for repeated measures in clinical drug
trials. The ADHD Index will help us understand if the effect of risperidone treatment on
impulsive aggression is independent of any effect it may have on ADHD symptomatology.
Initial visit
The initial visit will take place at the CAP outpatient clinic where the rest of the study
will be conducted. The study will be fully explained and a written informed consent will be
obtained from the parent(s) while an assent from will be obtained from the subject.
Parent(s) and subject will undergo the following assessments:
1. Parent/Staff:
1. Structured psychiatric interview employing the computerized Diagnostic Interview
Schedule for Children IV (Generic C-DISC 4; Shaffer et al., 2000) – This is a
comprehensive, structured interview that covers 36 mental health disorders for
children and adolescents, using DSM-IV criteria. Extensive reliability data on
this instrument are available. The instrument produces a series of reports
including a diagnostic report that indicates endorsed symptoms, criteria, and
diagnoses. Comorbidity in the sample will be clearly identified. The parent
version is suitable for caretakers of 6 to 17 year olds. Raters will be required
to participate in a two-day training session by a Columbia DISC trainer.
2. Complete social history and review of environmental stressors
3. Medical review of systems
4. CAS-P, ADHD index, and AQ
2. Subject:
1. Structured psychiatric interview employing the Generic C-DISC 4. The youth version
is suitable for children aged 9 to 17 years. The parent and youth interviews will
be performed in parallel except for children ages 7 and 8 years for which only the
parent interview is valid.
2. Continuous Performance Test
3. Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT; Kaufman and Kaufman 1990) – The K-BIT is a
brief, individually administered measure of verbal and nonverbal intelligence.
While it is not intended to substitute for a comprehensive measure of
intelligence, it is adequate for our screening purposes. The K-BIT IQ composite
score was correlated .80 with the WISC-R full scale IQ
4. Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) - A four-item scale widely used in clinical drug
trials, involving both adult and pediatric patients.
5. Laboratory studies will include complete blood cell count (CBC) and differential,
electrolytes, thyroid and kidney function tests. These will be repeated at
endpoint.
6. Urine analysis for toxicology and pregnancy (females)
3. Teacher:
The teacher will be given the Children’s Aggression Scale-Teacher Version (CAS-T) (Halperin
et al., 2002) to evaluate the frequency and severity of aggressive acts, as distinct from
oppositional and defiant behaviors. In addition, the teacher will be given the ADHD index.
The teacher who best knows the patient will complete both scales.
The research team will discuss all information collected to arrive at a preliminary
consensus diagnosis. After reviewing inclusion and exclusion criteria, subjects who are
eligible will be invited to participate in the study.
Phase I
This phase will last 4 weeks. Subjects that meet inclusion criteria will be randomized to
receive study medication (risperidone or placebo) as augmenting treatment to stimulant
medication. The dose of the stimulant will remain constant during this phase. Janssen
Pharmaceutica will supply risperidone 0.5 mg and identical placebos. All research staff and
subjects will be blind as to the study medication to be administered. The dose of the study
medication will be started at 0.5 mg/day. The dose for each child will be individually
regulated until optimum efficacy or until the side effects become unacceptable. The guiding
principle will be to achieve control of symptoms with the lowest possible dose in order to
minimize undue side effects. The medication dose can be gradually increased by 0.5mg weekly
to a maximum of 2 mg/day. Dose reduction for adverse events may occur at any time and be
made in any multiple of 0.5 mg as deemed clinically necessary. No other concomitant
medication will be permitted. Subjects will attend the research clinic on a weekly basis for
behavioral assessments and medication distribution.
At the end of Phase I, the blind will be broken on every subject and the study medication
will be identified. Subjects that received placebo and continue to present aggressive
behaviors, as defined by inclusion criteria, will be eligible to continue to Phase II. All
other subjects will be treated as clinically indicated.
Phase II
This phase will last 4 weeks. Subjects that received placebo during Phase I and continue to
present aggressive behaviors will receive risperidone on an open basis. All visits, dosing,
and assessment instruments will be the same as in Phase I. This represents an opportunity to
identify all potential responders to risperidone as an augmenting agent.
Safety Evaluations
- Baseline, week 4, and week 8 if applicable: Blood-cell-count (CBC) and differential,
electrolytes, thyroid and kidney function tests, and urine pregnancy test.
- Vital signs and weight; baseline and weekly thereafter
- Side-effect questionnaire; baseline and weekly thereafter
Drug Accountability
A medication log will be maintained for each subject detailing dose and schedule on a daily
basis. At each weekly visit subjects will be provided with enough medication for one-week of
treatment plus an additional 2 days supply for safety. They will be required to return any
unused medication at the end of each week. All drug supplies will be stored in a locked
cabinet.
