Treatment of Panic Disorder: Long Term Strategies

Summary

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) with or without medication has been used in the treatment of panic disorder (PD). The purpose of this study is 1) to determine whether nine months of maintenance cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) significantly improves the likelihood of sustained improvement; and 2) to determine the acute acceptability and efficacy of medication therapy or continued CBT alone among patients who fail to respond sufficiently to an initial course of CBT alone. It has been found that patients with PD respond as well to CBT or medication alone as they do to a combination of the two. Since the combined treatments are expensive and CBT is associated with less risk of medical toxicity compared to medications, CBT alone will be used first. All patients will first receive CBT alone. If the patient responds to this therapy, the patient will be assigned randomly (like tossing a coin) to 1 of 2 groups. One group will continue to receive CBT (maintenance therapy) for 9 months. The other group of responders will not receive any further therapy. If a patient does not respond to CBT alone, he/she will be assigned randomly to 1 of 2 different groups. One group will receive paroxetine; the other will continue to receive CBT for a longer period. The response to treatment will be evaluated to see which regimen works best to treat PD. The study will last approximately 3 years. An individual may be eligible for this study if he/she has panic disorder with no more than mild agoraphobia (fear of being in public places) and is at least 18 years old.

Timeline

Start

1999-02

Primary completion

2004-07

Completion

2004-07

Publications

• Background Barlow DH, Gorman JM, Shear MK, Woods SW. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, imipramine, or their combination for panic disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2000 May 17;283(19):2529-36. doi: 10.1001/jama.283.19.2529.
• Background Shear MK, Brown TA, Barlow DH, Money R, Sholomskas DE, Woods SW, Gorman JM, Papp LA. Multicenter collaborative panic disorder severity scale. Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Nov;154(11):1571-5. doi: 10.1176/ajp.154.11.1571.
• Background Gorman JM. A 28-year-old woman with panic disorder. JAMA. 2001 Jul 25;286(4):450-7. doi: 10.1001/jama.286.4.450. No abstract available.
• Background Grilo CM, Money R, Barlow DH, Goddard AW, Gorman JM, Hofmann SG, Papp LA, Shear MK, Woods SW. Pretreatment patient factors predicting attrition from a multicenter randomized controlled treatment study for panic disorder. Compr Psychiatry. 1998 Nov-Dec;39(6):323-32. doi: 10.1016/s0010-440x(98)90043-8.
• Background Huppert JD, Bufka LF, Barlow DH, Gorman JM, Shear MK, Woods SW. Therapists, therapist variables, and cognitive-behavioral therapy outcome in a multicenter trial for panic disorder. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2001 Oct;69(5):747-55. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.69.5.747.
• Background Hofmann SG, Barlow DH, Papp LA, Detweiler MF, Ray SE, Shear MK, Woods SW, Gorman JM. Pretreatment attrition in a comparative treatment outcome study on panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 1998 Jan;155(1):43-7. doi: 10.1176/ajp.155.1.43.
• Payne LA, White KS, Gallagher MW, Woods SW, Shear MK, Gorman JM, Farchione TJ, Barlow DH. SECOND-STAGE TREATMENTS FOR RELATIVE NONRESPONDERS TO COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) FOR PANIC DISORDER WITH OR WITHOUT AGORAPHOBIA-CONTINUED CBT VERSUS SSRI: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. Depress Anxiety. 2016 May;33(5):392-9. doi: 10.1002/da.22457. Epub 2015 Dec 10.

Drugs

Indications