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CompletedNCT00249145Updated Jan 14, 2011

A Study of the Effectiveness and Safety of Risperidone in the Treatment of Behavioral Disturbances in Patients With Dementia

A Phase 3 interventional study of risperidone in Dementia, Alzheimer Disease and Dementia, Vascular, sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Belgium. Completed. Open to participants aged 55 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2011-01-14.

Sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Belgium · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
349
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
55 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of the study is to compare the safety and efficacy of risperidone (an antipsychotic medication) to that of placebo in the treatment of behavioral disturbances associated with dementia.

Read the detailed description

Dementia is a term used for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of diseases or injuries that affect the brain. Individuals with dementia have a loss of function in cognition (thinking, perception, learning, verbal communication, memory, judgment), which may lead to behavioral and personality changes (for example, agitation, delusions, hallucinations). Some causes of dementia are reversible; however, irreversible dementia is caused by certain conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is common in elderly individuals, but it is not a normal part of aging. This is a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study comparing the effectiveness and safety of risperidone to placebo in patients with behavioral disturbances associated with dementia. Haloperidol is included as a reference therapy to confirm that the efficacy analyses are valid. The study is composed of two periods: a 1-week run-in period in which patients are discontinued from other antipsychotic drugs and take placebo twice daily and a 12-week double-blind treatment period. At the end of the run-in period, patients are randomly assigned to one of three risperidone doses, or placebo, or haloperidol (all oral solutions). The starting dose of risperidone and haloperidol is 0.25 milligrams (mg) twice daily, which is increased gradually to a maximum dose of 2 mg/day. If the patient does not have a sufficient response, the dose can be gradually increased to a maximum of 4 mg/day. The patient receives these doses for the remainder of the double-blind period. The primary measure of effectiveness is a reduction of >= 30% from baseline to the end of double-blind treatment on the total Behavior Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (BEHAVE-AD) score. The BEHAVE-AD is a rating scale used to evaluate behavior symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Additional efficacy measures include the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI), a rating system used to evaluate the overall and severity of clinical change in a patient with various diseases affecting the brain; the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), a questionnaire evaluating agitation; the Functional Assessment Staging (FAST), a diagnostic tool for determining the stage of dementia; and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a clinical measure used to evaluate cognition. Safety evaluations include the incidence of adverse events; results of clinical laboratory tests (hematology, biochemistry, urinalysis); measurements of vital signs; physical and neurological examinations and electrocardiogram (ECG) findings; evaluations of the presence and severity of sedation; a computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain; and the Extrapyramidal Symptoms Rating Scale (ESRS), a scale used to measure effects of antipsychotic medications on motor functions of the patient. The study hypothesis is that risperidone is more effective than placebo, as measured by a change from baseline on the total BEHAVE-AD score, in treating behavioral disturbances in demented patients. Risperidone oral solution 1 mg/mL; haloperidol oral solution, 1 mg/mL; placebo oral solution. Starting doses of 0.25 mg twice daily and increasing to 2 mg/day. If 2 mg/day shows an insufficient response, a maximum of 4 mg/day of risperidone or haloperidol is permitted. Total treatment duration is 12 weeks.

02

Conditions studied

  • Dementia
  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Dementia, Vascular

Keywords

  • Dementia
  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • vascular dementia
  • mixed dementia, risperidone
  • nursing home
03

In context

Alzheimer Disease

3,681 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 875 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 349 is above the median of 70 across 2,809 interventional studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.

Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →

Lead sponsor

Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Belgium is the lead sponsor of 58 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
55 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type, mixed dementia, or vascular dementia, (as classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diseases, 4th edition [DSM-IV]) and have behavioral disturbances
  • a score >=4 on the FAST
  • a score \<=23 on the MMSE
  • a BEHAVE-AD total score >=8, and a BEHAVE-AD global rating >=1
  • must be institutionalized.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with other medical or neurological conditions in which cognition (thinking, perception, learning, verbal communication, memory, judgment) is diminished (for example, drug overdosage, severe liver, heart, lung, and kidney malfunctions, Parkinson's disease)
  • other psychiatric disorders, including major depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse or dependence
  • abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) findings
  • abnormal clinical laboratory test findings.
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Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double
Enrollment
349 participants (actual)

Interventions

  • Drugrisperidone
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline to end of double-blind treatment on the total BEHAVE-AD score.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline to end of double-blind treatment in global rating, total BEHAVE-AD score, total CMAI score, CGI severity, FAST, and MMSE; safety evaluations conducted throughout the study

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Publications

  • De Deyn PP, Rabheru K, Rasmussen A, Bocksberger JP, Dautzenberg PL, Eriksson S, Lawlor BA. A randomized trial of risperidone, placebo, and haloperidol for behavioral symptoms of dementia. Neurology. 1999 Sep 22;53(5):946-55. doi: 10.1212/wnl.53.5.946. PubMed 10496251 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 14, 2011, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00249145
Lead sponsor
Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Belgium
First posted
Nov 7, 2005
Start date
Apr 1995
Completion
Dec 1996
Last update
Jan 14, 2011

Study contacts

Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. Clinical Trial
study director · Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V.
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2011. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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