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Frontotemporal Dementia: A Randomised, Controlled Trial with Trazodone
Florence Lebert, Willy Stekke, Christine Hasenbroekx, Florence Pasquier. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 2004-01-01
Topic: Drug trials: efficacy and safety
Behavioural troubles due to frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are difficult to treat. The serotonergic system is associated with frontal lobes, the degeneration of which contributes to FTD. Trazodone increases the extracellular 5-HT levels in the frontal cortex. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study, we investigated the effect of trazodone. There was a significant decrease in the Neuropsychiatry Inventory (NPI) total score with trazodone (p = 0.028) in the 26 evaluable patients. A decrease of more than 50% in the NPI score was observed in 10 patients with trazodone. This improvement was mainly based on the improvement of 4 items of the scale (irritability, agitation, depressive symptoms and eating disorders). The Mini-Mental State Examination was not modified and trazodone was well tolerated. Results of this first placebo-controlled trial suggest that trazodone is an effective treatment for the behavioural symptoms of FTD.
Key findings
- The serotonergic system is associated with frontal lobes, the degeneration of which contributes to FTD.
- There was a significant decrease in the Neuropsychiatry Inventory (NPI) total score with trazodone (p = 0.028) in the 26 evaluable patients.
- Results of this first placebo-controlled trial suggest that trazodone is an effective treatment for the behavioural symptoms of FTD.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 45/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 26 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 45 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2004 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15178953) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 26 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 26 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 45 out of 100. |
| Total | 45 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Lebert, F., Stekke, W., Hasenbroekx, C., & Pasquier, F. (2004). Frontotemporal Dementia: A Randomised, Controlled Trial with Trazodone. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1159/000077171
Vancouver
Lebert F, Stekke W, Hasenbroekx C, Pasquier F. Frontotemporal Dementia: A Randomised, Controlled Trial with Trazodone. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. 2004. doi:10.1159/000077171. PMID: 15178953.
BibTeX
@article{lebert2004-15178953,
author = {Lebert, Florence and Stekke, Willy and Hasenbroekx, Christine and Pasquier, Florence},
title = {{Frontotemporal Dementia: A Randomised, Controlled Trial with Trazodone}},
journal = {Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1159/000077171},
pmid = {15178953},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1159/000077171}
}