Efficacy of Sleep Interventions for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Summary

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate and compare the effects of experimental treatments aimed at improving insomnia and nightmares in men and women military veterans between the ages of 18 and 60 years old, and who have a condition called Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Insomnia refers to difficulty falling or staying asleep, although enough time is allowed for sleeping. Insomnia is also associated with daytime consequences, such as lack of energy, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Nightmares are bad dreams that may or may not awaken the sleeper, and that cause discomfort during the daytime.

Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) refers to symptoms that occur after someone experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event, and that persist for three months or more after the event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, feelings of detachment from others, sleep disturbances, irritability, anxiety, and efforts to avoid people and places associated with the life-threatening event. These symptoms occur after a life-threatening event. Symptoms that persist for more than one month indicate the presence of PTSD. In the present study, we will study people with chronic PTSD, which refers to PTSD symptoms that persist for more than 3 months.

Efficacy of a treatment is defined as the capacity to produce the desired effects. In this study, we will evaluate and compare the capacity of two active experimental treatments to reduce insomnia and nightmares associated with PTSD, and one inactive intervention, called a placebo, for people who continue to have sleep difficulties despite receiving treatment with an antidepressant medication called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI, like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa). The two active experimental treatments are a medication, prazosin, and a brief behavioral intervention, which involves exercises and techniques to reduce nightmares and improve sleep quality. Prazosin is an approved medication by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against high blood pressure, but is not FDA-approved for posttraumatic insomnia and nightmares.

Conditions

• Anxiety Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Insomnia
• Nightmares

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral Sleep Intervention

Participants will receive a workbook with information related to the intervention. The three core components are presented and discussed during these sessions are:1) education about sleep and nightmares; 2) imagery rehearsal; 3) stimulus control and sleep restriction. Session 1 focuses on education on PDSD-related insomnia, nightmares, and sleep avoidance behaviors. The rationale for imagery rehearsal will then be presented, and the technique will be practiced once. Strategies for managing intrusive thoughts and images during the practice of imagery rehearsal will be discussed. Participants will be instructed to practice this technique at least three times each day for the duration of the treatment phase. During the second 45-minute session (Week 3), sleep schedules extracted from the pre-intervention sleep diary will be used to identify goals to reduce insomnia, i.e., for sleep restricted schedules, and activities to be performed out of bed when awake.

DRUG

Prazosin

Participants randomized to PRZ will take 4 capsules each night (PRZ dose complemented with placebo capsules ). The target dose of prazosin is 10 mg. Some individuals may require doses up to 15 mg, (Murray Raskind, M.D., personal communication, February 4, 2005). Prazosin will be administered in an initial oral dose of 1 mg (Week 1), with titration to a maximum of 15 mg. The first increment will be of 1 mg (Week 2: 2 mg), and subsequent weekly increments according to the following schedule: Week 3: 4 mg; Week 4: 6 mg; Week 5: 10 mg; Week 6: 15 mg; Week 7: 15 mg; Week 8: 15 mg. A maximum dose of 15 mg may be necessary. Medication will be administered in a single dose to be taken 30 minutes prior to bedtime because the onset of action occurs within 30 to 90 minutes after a single dose.

DRUG

Placebo

Participants randomized to PLA will take 4 capsules each night for eight weeks, all capsules will be identical to prazosin capsules. As for participants randomly assigned to PRZ, they will receive a one-week medication supplies in daily dose dispensers. Similarly, participants will also be instructed to be ready for bed at the time they take the medication, and not to engage in any activities that will prevent them from going to bed.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command

  collaborator FED

• University of Pittsburgh

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Anne Germain, Ph.D. · Department of Psychiatry University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

55 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2006-10-31

Primary Completion

2010-06-30

Completion

2011-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations