Efficacy of Aripiprazole Versus Placebo in the Reduction of Aggressive and Aberrant Behavior in Autistic Children

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Hypothesis: (1) Aripiprazole treatment will be superior to placebo in reducing aggression and irritability in autistic individuals as shown by reductions in the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-irritability subscale.

(2) Aripiprazole treatment will be superior to placebo in the acute treatment of global autism severity.

The purpose of this study is to examine the possible benefit of the medication Aripiprazole in autistic individuals.

Detailed Description: Aripiprazole is an atypical antipsychotic medication which is currently approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults. Multiple clinical trials in both children and adults have shown the effectiveness in the treatment of autism with medications like Aripiprazole. This study aims at assessing the effect of aripiprazole vs. placebo treatment on symptoms of irritability and aggression associated with autism, as well as the effect on the global severity of child and adolescent autistic disorder. Children or adolescent outpatients, with age ranges from 5-17, will be enrolled into an 8-week placebo controlled, double blind treatment study. During the 8 weeks, patients will be monitored by the treating psychiatrist. Study assessments will be administered at designated time points.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

Subject has been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder (such as schizophrenia) or a mood disorder, including depression or bipolar disorder (manic depression).
Subject has caused visible harm to him/herself.
Subject has an active seizure disorder or epilepsy (seizures within the past year).
Subject has an unstable medical illness, including heart disease.
Subject has experienced brain injury.
Subject has a history of diabetes.
Subject reports significant improvement of autism symptoms and behaviors to current medication or other therapies.
Subject has a history of prior treatment with Aripiprazole of 5 mg/day or higher for 6 weeks.
Subject lives in a far away area and/or does not have regular access to transportation to the clinical facility.
Subject is a pregnant female or unwilling to use acceptable contraception if sexually active.

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Placebo	Placebos	Subjects in the control group will receive sugar pill
Aripiprazole	Aripiprazole	Subjects in the experimental group will receive Aripiprazole

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Clinical Global Impression Improvement (CGI-AD)	Administered weekly, initial and week 8 reported	Clinical Global Impression Improvement (CGI)-AD (Guy, 1976). This is a standard rating scale with 7-point global severity and change scales which has been modified for Autistic Disorder. A rating of 2 is given when there is a substantial reduction in symptoms so that a treating clinician would be unlikely to change treatment. A rating of 1 is reserved for patients who become virtually symptom-free. A rating of 3 (minimally improved) on the CGI is defined as slight symptomatic improvement that is not deemed clinically significant. Administration time is approximately 2 minutes. Minimum is 1 and maximum is 5. A lower score indicates improvement, whereas a higher score indicates worsening.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Aberrant Behavior Checklist	Administered biweekly, initial and week 8 reported	Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) (irritability section) (Aman et al, 1985). The Aberrant Behavior Checklist assesses drug and other treatment effects on mentally retarded individuals. It consists of a five-factor scale comprising 58 items. We will use the Irritability section to assess aggressive and agitated behavior. While the internal consistency, validity and test-retest reliability were reported to be very good, inter-rater reliability was moderate (Aman et al, 1985). The ABC will be filled out by an informant, and then reviewed by the psychiatrist. Administration time is approximately 10 minutes. Maximum is 36, minimum is 0, a lower score indicates improvement.