Atomoxetine in Veterans With Comorbid ADHD/PTSD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Clinical Trial

Official title: Atomoxetine in Comorbid ADHD/PTSD: A Pilot, Placebo-Controlled Feasibility Study

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The current available treatments for PTSD are not fully effective for cognitive symptoms of PTSD and have high drop-out and poor engagement, two factors found to be most indicative of overall return to functioning for patients with PTSD. The proposed study directly addresses this knowledge gap by conducting a pilot, fixed-dose, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and cross-over trial using atomoxetine (ATX) as an add-on medication to other therapies to testing the efficacy of ATX in reducing ADHD cognitive symptoms among veterans with comorbid ADHD/PTSD. Successful completion of this pilot clinical trial may build a platform for future large scale double-blind, placebo-controlled studies using either atomoxetine or other cognitive enhancing medications.

Clinical Trial Description

Combat Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often show cognitive impairments in attention, working memory, executive functions, and inhibitory control, a cluster of symptoms resembling symptoms of ADHD. The presence of comorbid ADHD cognitive symptoms is often associated with greater PTSD clinical severity and poorer treatment outcomes. While treatments for the avoidance, arousal, and re-experiencing symptoms associated with PTSD for military personnel are readily available, substantial gaps exist in the treatment of the cognitive deficits associated with PTSD. As a result, untreated co-occurring ADHD cognitive symptoms in PTSD may have severe negative impacts on patients' functional recovery, treatment outcome, and quality of life. The proposed study directly addresses this knowledge gap by testing the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of atomoxetine (ATX) in treatment of ADHD cognitive symptoms among those with comorbid ADHD/PTSD. This is a small prospective, 10-week, fixed-dose, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and cross-over trial of ATX as an add-on medication to other therapies in Veterans with comorbid ADHD/PTSD. Primary outcome measures will be ADHD cognitive symptom reduction and quality of life improvement as measured by the Adult ADHD Rating Scales-Self-Report: Short Version (CAARS-S:S) and the Adult ADHD Quality of Life-29 (AAQoL-29). Secondary outcome measures will be PTSD and depressive symptoms reduction as measured by the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D). In addition to subjective measures, the response inhibition task Go/NoGo (GNG) will be used as objective assessments to measure ATX treatment outcomes. The proposed work is innovative; it applies novel therapeutic agent to treat cognitive symptoms in PTSD. To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply a SNRI to address an often overlooked PTSD-cognitive deficit. This study is directly responsive to the mission of RR&D-SPiRE "to maximize functional recovery" of cognitive function in PTSD. The outcome of the proposed research will be significant, because it provides a knowledge base to help determine who is at risk for developing treatment resistance among PTSD patients, thereby allowing for development of early intervention strategies. More importantly, this clinical trial may immediate benefit Veterans by enhancing their cognitive function, reducing ADHD symptoms related disability, and further improving quality of life for veterans suffer from comorbid ADHD/PTSD. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Disease
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
• Stress Disorders, Traumatic

• NCT number: NCT02287038
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: VA Office of Research and Development
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Start date: October 15, 2014
• Completion date: April 14, 2017