NCT00353470

Comparison of Psychotherapy Programs to Treat Panic Disorder

Dynamic Treatment vs. CBT for Panic Disorder

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 201 (actual)
• Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will determine the relative effectiveness of three psychotherapies in treating people with a panic disorder.

Detailed description

Panic disorder (PD) is a debilitating anxiety disorder. It is characterized by unexpected and repeated episodes of intense fear, accompanied by serious physical symptoms, such as chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, or abdominal stress. Available treatments for PD include medication therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of psychotherapy that teaches people how to view panic attacks differently and how to reduce anxiety. Approximately 30% of patients refuse medication, however, and nearly 50% do not achieve remission with CBT alone. Therefore, there is a pressing need for additional non-pharmacologic treatment methods. Panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy (PFPP) and applied relaxation training (ART) are among some of the other available treatments for PD. During ART, individuals are taught to relax their muscles while being exposed to increasingly frightening situations. PFPP combines elements of CBT with other, more extensive approaches aimed at determining the anxiety's origin and at finding ways to reduce it. This study will compare the effectiveness of PFPP, CBT, and ART in treating PD. Participants in this single blind study will be randomly assigned to receive PFPP, CBT, or ART for 12 weeks. All participants will attend between 19 and 24 treatment sessions over the course of the study. Upon completing the study, participants will attend monthly follow-up visits for an additional 12 months. Participants assigned to ART who have not responded by the end of treatment may opt to receive PFPP or CBT. Outcomes will be assessed using a variety of scales to determine depression and anxiety symptoms.

Conditions

• Anxiety Disorders
• Panic Disorder
• Agoraphobia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive behavioral therapy	CBT for panic disorder will include 19 to 24 sessions over 12 weeks.
BEHAVIORAL	Applied relaxation training (ART)	ART with exposure protocol will include 19 to 24 sessions over 12 weeks.
BEHAVIORAL	Panic focused psychodynamic psychotherapy (PFPP)	PFPP will include 19 to 24 sessions over 12 weeks.

Timeline

• Start date: 2006-09-01
• Primary completion: 2012-03-01
• Completion: 2012-09-01
• First posted: 2006-07-18
• Last updated: 2022-12-23
• Results posted: 2022-12-23

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States