Treatment of Mild to Moderate Depression Symptoms in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: This study was initially designed to test the efficacy of Venlafaxine HCl in reducing incidence of the onset of major depression after a new spinal cord injury (SCI). After several protocol modifications, the purpose of the study is to test the effectiveness of a sub-therapeutic dose of Venlafaxine HCl to reduce mild to moderate symptoms in persons with SCI.

Detailed Description: The successes of psychological and pharmacological modes of intervention in treating depression, both alone and combined, are well documented in the literature. While a great deal of research has identified specific clinical indications for many antidepressants currently available in the general population, little is known about the clinical indications of these agents in SCI. This study is proposed to test the benefits of Venlafaxine HCI (Effexor XR) for reducing mild to moderate symptoms of depression among people with SCI. The intervention will last 12 weeks and there will be 13 assessments and data collection points. Data will be collected at 26 weeks also. Eight face to face contacts are anticipated.

Because of the change in protocol to reducing mild to moderate symptoms and substantially lower enrollment than anticipated (1/6th of what we anticipated), we deleted a number of study outcomes listed in the 2011 posting of this study. Most of these were not part of the original posting in 2008, and those that were deleted were no longer relevant to new protocol's focus on reducing mild to moderate depression. The two outcomes reported here were most relevant to the revised protocol.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

No neurological impairment due to SCI.
Presence of cognitive deficits precluding and giving informed consent and completion of survey based assessment tools.
Psychiatric contraindications (suicidal ideation, history of suicidal attempts, alcohol and drug dependency, other psychiatric diagnosis including bipolar disorder).
Medical contraindications (terminal illness or unstable medical condition as determined by medical history and/or examination).
Pregnant or unwilling to use birth control if female and sexually active.
Presence of glaucoma.
Prior use of study drug without success or being treated with another antidepressant medication and being unwilling to taper off to take the stud drug.
Willing to travel to Ann Arbor Michigan.
Expecting to take or currently taking another experimental study within 30 days
Major surgery scheduled within 12 weeks

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Venlafaxine	Venlafaxine HCl	Venlafaxine HCl is classified as a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SSNRI) and has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of major depressive disorder. The treatment group will receive a sub-therapeutic dose over a two week period, with a two week titration, starting at 37.5 mg up to a maximum dose of 150 mg per day. At the end of the treatment period, dosage was tapered down in a step-wise fashion over a period of three weeks; 75 mg. for two weeks and 37.5 mg. for one week. While this was the standard protocol, study drug tapering was individualized based on side effects and the clinical judgment of the prescriber.
Placebo	Placebo	Placebo capsules were compounded by filling a matching gelatin capsule with lactose. Titration up and down followed the same schedule as the treatment group.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
16-Item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self Report (QIDS-SR16)	Baseline and Week 13	The QIDS assesses symptoms of depression across the nine DSM-IV criterion domains for major depressive episode. The primary end-point in this study was the number of participants who had a \>50% change in scores on the QIDs from baseline to week 13 (end of treatment period).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Depression Scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)	Baseline and weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20 and 26 weeks	The nine items of the PHQ-9 are based directly on the nine diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the DSM-IV. Higher total scores indicate more severe symptomatology, ranging from 0 (no symptoms) to 27 (most severe symptoms). Data in the tables begin with the overall mean for each group that includes all subjects, average across all assessment time points. Each subsequent row reports the mean and standard deviation of each time point by allocation, noting sample size for each group in the arm/group title given missing data in each time point after baseline.