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Post-Traumatic Brain Injury (Post-TBI) Fatigue and Its Treatment

Phase 2
Terminated
Conditions
Fatigue
Interventions
Drug: Placebo
Registration Number
NCT00233090
Lead Sponsor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Brief Summary

Randomized clinical trial of modafinil vs. placebo for treatment of fatigue after TBI.

Detailed Description

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of the drug modafinil as a treatment for fatigue post TBI.

Background: After TBI, fatigue is one of the most common complaints, as documented in our work and that of many other researchers. People with TBI experience fatigue that seems to them out of proportion to whatever work they are doing or effort they are making. Fatigue after TBI is associated with decreased participation in normal activities in the community and has been linked to depression.

Need for Research: Research on use of drugs to treat post-TBI fatigue is inadequate. While studies of fatigue in people with other chronic conditions suggest that modafinil helps relieve fatigue and has fewer side effects than some other drugs used in treating fatigue, the use of modafinil has not yet been tested in people with TBI.

Current and Future Research Activity: More than 100 men and women volunteers who complain of post-TBI fatigue will be randomly assigned to a 4-week period of taking modafinil or a placebo. At the beginning and end of the study, the severity of their fatigue and associated symptoms (e.g., cognitive function, mood, pain, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, health status) will be assessed, as well as their participation in activities and perceived quality of life. It is hypothesized that modafinil will reduce the symptoms of fatigue and will increase level of activity and perceived quality of life to a significantly greater extent than will the placebo.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
TERMINATED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
21
Inclusion Criteria
  • Individuals who sustained a TBI with a documented loss of consciousness or evidence of a TBI on neuroimaging studies and who are at least 12 months post-injury, who complain of fatigue and who have scores of 22 or above on the Barroso Fatigue Scale will be eligible to participate in this study. Subjects must not meet criteria for alcohol or substance abuse using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) for at least six months prior to study enrollment.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Diagnosis of chronic neurological disease (including Lyme disease), narcolepsy, current infectious disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, anemia, hypothyroidism not adequately controlled with medication, blood pressure greater 150/100 mm Hg, or clinically significant major systemic disease. In addition, individuals taking medications which are known to cause fatigue will be excluded from participation in the study.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
ModafinilModafinilsingle dose of 200 mg. a day of modafinil for four weeks
PlaceboPlacebo-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Fatiguecomparison pre and post treatment

Self-report of fatigue

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Cognitive Performancecomparison pre and post treatment

Cognitive performance

Moodcomparison pre and post treatment

mood

Paincomparison pre and post treatment

pain

Sleep Qualitycomparison pre and post treatment

sleep quality

Health Statuscomparison pre and post treatment

health status

Participationcomparison pre and post treatment

participation

Quality of Lifecomparison pre and post treatment

quality of life

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

🇺🇸

New York, New York, United States

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