ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05876117Updated Jan 27, 2025

Premedication for Claustrophobic Patients for MRI Scan

An observational study in Claustrophobia, sponsored by Salem Anaesthesia Pain Clinic. Recruiting at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 99 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-01-27.

Sponsored by Salem Anaesthesia Pain Clinic · Observational

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2025, 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jul 2020; still recruiting 6 years 4 months later.
Study type
Observational
Model
Case-crossover
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
50
Ages
20 Years to 99 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

Claustrophobia is an irrational fear of restriction and suffocation. It is a specific phobia, according to DSM 5. Claustrophobic patients may fear that restriction of their limbs will hinder their ability to move quickly towards safety. MRI may trigger claustrophobia, because this diagnostic procedure involves a patient laying in a narrow tube. Premedication before MRI scan may occasionally reduce claustrophobia.

Prospective observational crossover study of claustrophobic patients who are undergoing MRI scan. At alternate MRI scan sessions, each patient receives rotational premedication using Lorazepam 1mg; or Clonidine tablet 0.2mg; or combined Clonidine 0.2mg + Lorazepam 1mg.

Patient will use Claustrophobia Questionnaire, a validated tool, to collect data on the days before and after each MRI scan. CLQ is a patient-administered tool used to assess claustrophobia. In addition, patient will use General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire, a validated tool, to collect data on the days before and after each MRI scan. GAD-7 is a patient-administered tool that is used to assess anxiety.

Read the detailed description

Claustrophobia is an irrational fear of constraint, restriction, immobility, smothering and suffocation. Claustrophobia is a specific phobia, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM 5). The disorder affects 5% of the general population. Claustrophobic patients may fear that the restriction of their limbs will hinder their ability to move quickly towards perceived safety. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may trigger claustrophobia, because this diagnostic procedure involves a patient staying immobile in a narrow and noisy tube. Anxiolytic premedication before MRI scan, using Lorazepam, may occasionally help to reduce claustrophobia.

This is a prospective observational crossover study of claustrophobic adult patients who are undergoing MRI scan as part of chronic pain management. At alternate MRI scan sessions, each patient receives rotational premedication using Lorazepam 1mg; or Clonidine tablet 0.2mg; or combined Clonidine 0.2mg + Lorazepam 1mg.

The patient will use the Claustrophobia Questionnaire (CLQ), a special validated tool, to collect data on the days before and after each MRI scan. The CLQ is a patient-administered tool that is used to record the severity and presence of claustrophobia symptoms, on a measurement range of 0 to 104. A change in the CLQ scores by 12-points is considered significant. In addition, the patient will use the General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7), a special validated tool, to collect data on the days before and after each MRI scan. The GAD-7 is a patient-administered tool that is used to record the severity and presence of anxiety symptoms, on a measurement range of 0 to 21. A change in the GAD-7 scores by 3-points is considered significant.

Data analyzed with IBM® SPSS® Statistics 25 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY); using Student's t-test, ANOVA, Pearson Chi-square test, and regression analysis. P-value \<0.05 is considered significant.

02

Conditions studied

  • Claustrophobia

Keywords

  • Claustrophobia MRI
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Salem Anaesthesia Pain Clinic is the lead sponsor of 19 studies on the registry; 12 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 99 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Adult claustrophobic patients who are undergoing MRI scan as part of chronic pain management. Previous incomplete MRI because of claustrophobia.

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • diagnosed with claustrophobia
  • previous incomplete MRI because of claustrophobia
  • adult patients
  • good treatment compliance
  • reliable Claustrophobia Questionnaire (CLQ) diary
  • reliable General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD) diary
  • for diary review
  • consent for clinical record quality assurance review

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • poor treatment compliance
  • cognitive disorder
  • inability to provide consent
  • major neuropsychiatric disorder
  • unreliable diary
  • cannabis use
  • excessive alcohol intake
  • previous adverse/allergic reactions to clonidine
  • previous adverse/allergic reactions to lorazepam
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Observational model
Case-crossover
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Claustrophobic adult patients

    Claustrophobic adult patients who are undergoing MRI scan as part of chronic pain management.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of completion of MRI scan

    Patient is calm and cooperative, completes MRI scan

    Time frame: 12 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 27, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05876117
Lead sponsor
Salem Anaesthesia Pain Clinic
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 25, 2023
Start date
Jul 4, 2020
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 27, 2025

Study contacts

Olu Bamgbade, MD,FRCPC
Contact
salem.painclinic@gmail.com
17786286600
Olu Bamgbade, MD,FRCPC
principal investigator · Salem Anaesthesia Pain Clinic

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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