Flushes and Sertraline Trial

Condition(s) targeted: Menopause-Hot Flashes

Intervention: Sertraline (Drug)

Phase: N/A

Status: Completed

Sponsored by: University of California, San Francisco

Official(s) and/or principal investigator(s):
Deborah G Grady, MD, MPH, Principal Investigator, Affiliation: University of California, San Francisco

The primary outcome of FAST (a randomized double-blinded, placebo controlled, trial of the effect of sertraline vs. placebo in reducing the incidence and severity of hot flushes in healthy women) is to determine if 6 weeks of treatment with sertraline (50mg daily for 2 weeks, followed by 100mg per day for 4 weeks, if tolerated) results in a greater reduction in hot flush score (frequency * severity) compared to placebo among women with moderate to severe hot flashes. The secondary aim is to determine the effect of treatment with sertraline on quality of life, sleep, sexual function, and mood.

Official title: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo Controlled, Trial of the Effect of Sertraline Vs. Placebo in Reducing the Incidence and Severity of Hot Flashes in Healthy Women

Study design: Treatment, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Control, Parallel Assignment, Safety/Efficacy Study

Primary outcome: To determine if 6 weeks of treatment with sertraline (50 mg daily for 2 weeks, followed by 100 mg per day for 4 weeks, if tolerated) results in greater reduction in hot flush score (frequency x severity), frequency and severity compared to placebo

Secondary outcome: To determine the effect of treatment with sertraline on quality of life, sleep, sexual function, and mood. To determine if a modified, short version of a sexual function instrument is valid.

Detailed description: The primary aim of FAST is to determine if 6 weeks of treatment with sertraline (50 mg daily for 2 weeks, followed by 100 mg per day for 4 weeks, if tolerated) results in greater reduction in hot flush score (frequency x severity), frequency and severity compared to placebo among women with moderate to severe hot flushes.

The Secondary Aims: To determine the effect of treatment with sertraline on quality of life, sleep, sexual function, mood, and cognitive function. To determine if a modified, short version of a sexual function instrument is valid.

Minimum age: 40 Years. Maximum age: 60 Years. Gender(s): Female.

Criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

- Age 40 – 60 years old

- Report > 14 hot flushes per week

- Willing to be randomized to sertraline or placebo

- Sign informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

- History of bilateral oophorectomy

- Breast or ovarian cancer

- Liver disease

- Kidney disease requiring dialysis

- History of major depression (reported history of depression requiring therapy,

hospitalization for depression, taking antidepressant drugs, history of suicide attempt)

- History of bipolar affective disorder (reported history of bipolar disorder requiring

therapy, medications, hospitalized for bipolar disorder)

- Seizure disorder

- History of hypersensitivity to sertraline or to SSRIs

- Pregnancy or breast feeding

- Any medical or psychiatric condition which, in the investigator’s opinion, would

preclude the participant from adhering to the protocol or completing the trial;

- No estrogens or progestins for 3 months prior to screening or during enrollment

- Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS)

- The following medications: clonidine, gabapentin, tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine

oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), megesterol , oral contraceptives, androgens; and medications that are listed on the Pfizer Pharmaceutical drug insert as “contraindicated”

UCSF Women's Health Clinical Research Center, San Francisco, California 94115, United States

Starting date: July 2003
Ending date: January 2006
Last updated: August 2, 2006