MedTrace Logo

Combination Lexapro and Massage for Treatment of Depression in Older Adults

NCT00643162 · Status: TERMINATED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 17

Last updated 2019-06-18

Study results available
· View outcomes & findings →

Summary

Depression is a common and disabling condition which represents a substantial public health concern, especially with the aging of the population in general. In fact, one to four percent of the older population has major depression. Although medication is the main treatment for depression, studies show that only 50% of patients show a significant response to treatment. The response might actually be less in older subjects, and with more adverse side effects due to changes in the metabolism of the older population as well as drug interaction. For these reasons (changes in metabolism and possible drug interactions) the starting dose of the antidepressant Lexapro will be 5mg, instead of 10mg.

To combat the incomplete response to medication, many combined and augmentation strategies have been developed. Examples of this would be an antidepressant medication plus a neuroleptic medication; or an antidepressant medication plus talk therapy. One non-medication treatment that is being considered is massage therapy. Recent data suggest that massage therapy can be useful for the treatment of depression.

This study proposes to perform a controlled trail to assess the effects of massage therapy on symptoms of depression in older subjects with major depression. All of the subjects will receive Lexapro, which is an FDA approved medication for the treatment of depression. Half of the subjects will receive Swedish massage for one hour, twice a week, and the other half will receive light touch for one hour, twice per week for eight weeks. Standardized rating scales that evaluate depression will be used to evaluate the subjects mood.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Lexapro

5mg-10mg of lexapro, daily, for 9 weeks for all study participants.

BEHAVIORAL

Light touch

Light touch twice a week, for 8 weeks

BEHAVIORAL

Massage

Massage twice a week, for 8 weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Forest Laboratories

    collaborator INDUSTRY

  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Itai Danotivtch, Ph.D., M.D. · Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2006-06-30
Primary Completion
2010-02-28
Completion
2010-02-28

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00643162 on ClinicalTrials.gov