Anxiety and Depression in Epilepsy: A Pilot Treatment Study

Launched by WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · May 1, 2018

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This trial is an innovative learning healthcare system approach to translate the concept of measurement-based depression care into a specialty clinic setting and extend the concept to treat depression and/or anxiety. The neurologist/APP-administered medication intervention utilizes FDA-approved drugs with advantageous features for use in epilepsy (escitalopram and venlafaxine) and a telephone-based chronic care management plan for repeated symptom measurement and side effect surveillance. The proposed intervention may overcome barriers to implementing mental health treatment interventions i...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
• • Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
• • Age 18 or older
• • Ability to take oral medication and the willing to adhere to the intervention regimen
• • Minimum of 1 prior clinic visit at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
• • Adequate cognition (MoCA score of 20 or greater)
• • Diagnosis of epilepsy: EEG with documented seizure or epileptiform discharges OR non-epileptiform EEG and seizure remission with antiseizure drug OR treating epileptologist's leading clinical impression is epilepsy
• • NDDI-E score greater than 15 and/or GAD-7 score greater than or equal to 10
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Pregnancy or lactation
• • Known allergic reactions to escitalopram or venlafaxine
• • Comorbid psychogenic nonepileptic seizures
• • Prior psychiatric hospitalization
• • Prior suicide attempt
• • History of manic or psychotic symptoms (past manic episode (SCID-I), or psychotic symptom screen positive)
• • Current treatment by a psychiatrist or counselor/theraptist
• • Active suicidality at the time of screening
• • Current treatment with buspirone or an SSRI/SNRI/atypical antidepressant (specifically bupropion, fluoxetine, levomilnacipran, citalopram, milnacipran, desvenlafaxine, mirtazapine, duloxetine, paroxetine, escitalopram, sertraline, fluvoxamine, venlafaxine, vilazodone, vortioxetine)