Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT01179568

A Study of Medication With or Without Psychotherapy for Complicated Grief

The major goal of this 4-site, double blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial is to assess the efficacy of medication (Citalopram) alone or with psychotherapy (Complicated Grief Therapy) to treat the symptoms of complicated grief.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Complicated Grief Bereavement

Age range

18 year–95 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

VASDHS / University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States

Loading trial locations.

About this study

Complicated grief (CG) is a debilitating condition that is estimated to affect millions of people in the United States alone. We conducted the first randomized controlled study to address this condition (MH60783) and confirmed efficacy of a targeted psychotherapy, complicated grief treatment (CGT). Participants in our prior study continued stable antidepressant medication while receiving CGT or Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). Individuals taking antidepressants had better outcome in both treatments, though CGT was superior to IPT when administered with (60% responders v. 40%) or without (42% v.19%) antidepressants. Studies of antidepressant medication alone have shown mixed results with SSRIs appearing to be promising. However, there has been no randomized controlled study of SSRIs for CG. Determining the efficacy of SSRI treatment for CG, when administered with and without CGT, is of great public health importance.

We assembled 4 groups of investigators with strong track records in bereavement research and extensive experience with intervention studies and multicenter projects, to conduct a study of citalopram (CIT) efficacy. We plan to enroll participants with a primary diagnosis of Complicated Grief and randomly assign them (n=480; 50 at Columbia) to receive treatment with CIT, Placebo (PBO), CIT + CGT or PBO + CGT over a period of approximately 16 weeks. We want to determine whether citalopram shows a better response than placebo, when administered either with or without CGT. We will also address the question of whether CIT performs as well when administered alone as it does when administered with CGT.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosed with Complicated Grief and this is the patient's most important (primary) problem
  • Ability to give informed consent
  • Fluent in English
  • Willingness to have sessions audiotaped
  • Willingness to undergo random assignment

Exclusion criteria

  • Diagnosis of one or more of the following disorders: Schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder, current (past 6 months) substance abuse, Bipolar Disorder, current manic episode, Dementia
  • Pregnant or lactating women and women of childbearing potential not using medically accepted forms of contraception
  • Acute, unstable or severe medical illness such as (but not limited to) stroke, epilepsy, or other neurodegenerative disorders, metastatic or active cancer, hepatic disease, or primary renal disease requiring dialysis
  • Prior intolerance of citalopram
  • Pending or active disability claim or lawsuit related to the death

Treatment and study plan

Citalopram

Drug

16 weeks of medication provided flexibly up to 40 mg/day. Medication will be administered in a double-blind fashion.

Other names: Celexa

Complicated Grief Treatment

Behavioral

Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT) is a targeted psychotherapy for complicated grief. The treatment integrates principles, strategies and techniques from interpersonal psychotherapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral treatment and motivational interviewing. Treatment includes 16 sessions provided within 20 weeks.

Other names: CGT

Placebo

Other

16 weeks of daily inactive medication. It will be administered in a double-blind fashion.

Other names: Sugar pill

Primary outcomes

  1. Responder Status Based on Complicated Grief Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Scale

    Time frame: Weeks 12 and 20

    Brief rating scale frequently used in clinical trials. For this study, version modified for complicated grief was be used. Response is defined as a score of 1(very much improved) or 2 (much improved) on the scale. The rating was done by an Independent Evaluator.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change From Baseline in Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG)

    Time frame: Baseline and week 12

    The 19-item self-report instrument assesses symptoms of complicated grief. Responses on individual items are added up to a total score, which can range from 0 to 76 with higher scores indicating more intense symptoms. This scale has been utilized previously in treatment studies of CG. Additional times points include weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 40. For the pre-specified analyses we compared change in the ICG total score from baseline (calculated as baseline score minus week 12 score) for CIT vs PLA at week 12 (aim 1), based on the intention-to-treat principle including all randomized participants.

  2. Change From Baseline in Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG)

    Time frame: Baseline and week 20

    The 19-item self-report instrument assesses symptoms of complicated grief. Responses on individual items are added up to a total score, which can range from 0 to 76 with higher scores indicating more intense symptoms. This scale has been utilized previously in treatment studies of CG. Additional times points include weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 40. For the pre-specified analyses we compared change in the ICG total score from baseline (calculated as baseline score minus week 20 score) for CIT with CGT vs PLA with CGT (aim 2), and for CIT with CGT vs CIT (aim 3) based on the intention-to-treat principle including all randomized participants.

  3. Change From Baseline in Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS)

    Time frame: Baseline and week 12

    The WSAS is a modification of a scale introduced by Hafner and Marks (1976), consisting of 0-8 point ratings of the extent to which symptoms interfere with five areas of daily functioning: work, home management, private leisure, social leisure, and family relationships. It is a well-validated, widely used self-report measure. Additional time points include weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, and 40. A total score calculated as a sum of all items (possible range 0-40) was used in the analyses with higher scores indicating more impairment. For the pre-specified analyses we compared change in the WSAS total score from baseline (calculated as baseline score minus week 12 score) for CIT vs PLA at week 12 (aim 1), based on the intention-to-treat principle including all randomized participants.

  4. Change From Baseline in Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS)

    Time frame: Baseline and week 20

    The WSAS is a modification of a scale introduced by Hafner and Marks (1976), consisting of 0-8 point ratings of the extent to which symptoms interfere with five areas of daily functioning: work, home management, private leisure, social leisure, and family relationships. It is a well-validated, widely used self-report measure. Additional time points include weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, and 40. A total score calculated as a sum of all items (possible range 0-40) was used in the analyses with higher scores indicating more impairment. For the pre-specified analyses we compared change in the WSAS total score from baseline (calculated as baseline score minus week 20 score) for CIT with CGT vs PLA with CGT (aim 2), and for CIT with CGT vs CIT (aim 3) based on the intention-to-treat principle including all randomized participants.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Other

Collaborators

  • American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Registry information

Official study title

Optimizing Treatment for Complicated Grief (Healing Emotions After Loss:HEAL)

Acronym: HEAL

Important dates

Study start
2010
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Aug 11, 2010
Registry last updated
Jan 24, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.