A Phase 2/3 interventional study of Modafinil and Placebo in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) and Chronic Fatigue, sponsored by Radboud University Medical Center. Recruiting at 2 sites in Netherlands. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-14.
Sponsored by Radboud University Medical Center · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Treatment
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if modafinil can treat severe fatigue in adults aged 18 to 75 years with quiescent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does modafinil reduce fatigue more effectively than placebo, as measured by the mean difference in section I of the IBD-F questionnaire at week 8? Is modafinil safe and well tolerated in patients with quiescent IBD and severe fatigue?
Researchers will compare modafinil to placebo to see if modafinil improves fatigue outcomes.
Participants will:
attend one screening visit including assessment of disease activity, blood tests, stool testing, and an ECG; take modafinil or placebo for 8 weeks, starting at 100 mg daily with possible dose increases based on response and tolerability; complete online questionnaires at baseline, week 4, week 8, and week 12 about fatigue, quality of life, sleep, mood, and work productivity; be contacted regularly during the treatment period to discuss effect and side effects of the study medication; complete an online effort-based decision-making task at baseline and week 8.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is frequently associated with persistent fatigue, even during clinical remission. Fatigue is one of the most burdensome symptoms reported by patients with IBD and is associated with impaired quality of life, reduced daily functioning, and decreased work productivity. Despite its high prevalence and clinical relevance, there are currently no established pharmacological treatment options for fatigue in patients with quiescent IBD.
Modafinil is a centrally acting wakefulness-promoting agent approved for excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy. It has been used for many years and has a well-characterized safety profile. Although its exact mechanism of action is not fully understood, available evidence suggests that modafinil enhances wakefulness and alertness through effects on central dopaminergic signalling. Because fatigue in IBD may involve central mechanisms related to motivation, alertness, and effort processing, modafinil is a biologically plausible candidate treatment for this population. Preliminary clinical observations have suggested that modafinil may reduce fatigue in patients with quiescent IBD, but controlled trial data are not available.
This study is a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of modafinil in adults with quiescent IBD and severe fatigue. Participants are randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive modafinil or matching placebo. The treatment period is 8 weeks, followed by a 4-week post-treatment follow-up. To support tolerability and allow individualized treatment, study medication is started at 100 mg once daily and may be increased stepwise during follow-up contacts, based on clinical response and tolerability, up to a maximum daily dose of 300 mg. Participants assigned to placebo follow the same dosing schedule to maintain blinding.
After screening and baseline assessment, most study procedures are conducted remotely to minimize participant burden. Participants complete scheduled study assessments during treatment and follow-up and are contacted regularly by the study team to evaluate treatment response, dose adjustment, and adverse events. In addition to evaluating patient-reported outcomes related to fatigue and broader functioning, the trial includes an exploratory online effort-based decision-making task to assess motivational behaviour. Blood-based biomarker analyses will also be explored to investigate biological factors associated with fatigue and treatment response in IBD.
The placebo-controlled, double-blind design was selected because fatigue is a subjective outcome that is susceptible to placebo effects and expectation bias. This design is intended to allow a more reliable estimate of the specific treatment effect of modafinil. If modafinil is shown to be effective and well tolerated, the results of this trial may support the development of a pharmacological treatment option for an important unmet clinical need in IBD care.
1,853 studies on the registry are indexed under Colitis, Ulcerative; 472 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 60 is below the median of 70 across 1,236 interventional studies indexed under Colitis, Ulcerative.
Browse Colitis, Ulcerative studies →Radboud University Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 986 studies on the registry; 136 are open to participants now.
Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.
Compared within Colitis, Ulcerative, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
for the use of modafinil, such as:
Comorbidities or confirmed diagnoses known to cause fatigue, which may influence study outcomes, including but not limited to:
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.
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.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Clinically significant
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Modafinil
Drug: Modafinil
Drug: Placebo
Modafinil, administered orally as over-encapsulated tablets. Participants start with 100 mg once daily for the first 2 weeks. Depending on clinical response and tolerability, the dose may be increased stepwise during follow-up contacts to a maximum of 300 mg per day. Treatment duration is 8 weeks.
Matching placebo administered orally, identical in appearance, dosing frequency, and dose-adjustment schedule to modafinil in order to maintain double blinding. Treatment duration is 8 weeks.
The mean difference in section I of the IBD-F questionnaire at week 8
Fatigue severity will be assessed using section I of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Fatigue (IBD-F) questionnaire, a patient-reported measure of fatigue in people with inflammatory bowel disease. Section I is used to assess the severity of fatigue symptoms. Scores on section I range from 0 to 20, with higher scores indicating more severe fatigue. The outcome is the between-group difference in IBD-F section I score at week 8.
Time frame: at week 8 (end of treatment)
Difference in FACIT-F questionnaire
Fatigue will also be assessed using the FACIT-F questionnaire, a patient-reported measure of fatigue and its impact on daily activities and functioning. Total scores range from 0 to 52, with higher scores indicating less fatigue and better functioning. This outcome evaluates change from baseline over time.
Time frame: comparing baseline with week 4, 8 and 12
Difference in section I of the IBD-F questionnaire
Section I of the IBD-F questionnaire measures severity of fatigue symptoms in people with inflammatory bowel disease. Scores range from 0 to 20, with higher scores indicating more severe fatigue. This secondary outcome evaluates change from baseline at additional time points before and after the end of treatment.
Time frame: comparing baseline with week 4 and week 12
Difference in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ)
Quality of life will be assessed using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), a disease-specific patient-reported measure covering bowel symptoms, emotional health, social function, and systemic symptoms. Total scores range from 32 to 224, with higher scores indicating better disease-related quality of life. This outcome evaluates change from baseline over time.
Time frame: comparing baseline with week 4, 8 and 12
Difference in EuroQol-5 Dimensions-5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L)
General health status will be assessed using the EQ-5D-5L, a standardized patient-reported measure of health-related quality of life across 5 domains: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Higher index or utility values indicate better health status. This outcome evaluates change from baseline after treatment and at follow-up.
Time frame: comparing baseline with week 8 and 12
Difference in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
Sleep quality will be assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a patient-reported questionnaire that measures sleep quality and sleep disturbance. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality. This outcome evaluates change from baseline after treatment and at follow-up.
Time frame: comparing baseline with week 8 and week 12
Difference in the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
Depressive symptoms will be assessed using the PHQ-9, a patient-reported questionnaire for the severity of depressive symptoms. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms. This outcome evaluates change from baseline over time.
Time frame: baseline with week 4, 8 and 12
Difference in the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7 (GAD-7)
Anxiety symptoms will be assessed using the GAD-7, a patient-reported questionnaire for the severity of generalized anxiety symptoms. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety symptoms. This outcome evaluates change from baseline over time.
Time frame: baseline with week 4, 8 and 12
Difference in the IMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ)
Productivity loss in paid work will be assessed using the IMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ), a patient-reported measure of absenteeism, presenteeism, and reduced productivity related to health problems. Higher impairment values indicate greater productivity loss. This outcome evaluates change from baseline after treatment and at follow-up.
Time frame: baseline with week 8 and week 12
The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events, serious adverse events, events of clinical interest and adverse events that lead to discontinuation of modafinil use
Safety and tolerability will be assessed by recording adverse events reported during the study. Treatment-emergent adverse events are defined as adverse events occurring or worsening after the start of study treatment. Serious adverse events, events of clinical interest, and adverse events leading to permanent discontinuation of study treatment will be summarized by treatment group.
Time frame: until 30 days post end of treatment
Change in effort sensitivity and reward sensitivity on an online effort-based decision-making task
Motivational behaviour will be explored using a validated online effort-based decision-making task. This task assesses how participants make choices between options that differ in required effort and potential reward. The exploratory outcome will evaluate task-based measures of effort sensitivity, reward sensitivity, and the effort-reward trade-off, to examine whether modafinil affects cognitive processes related to motivation. Higher willingness to choose high-effort options for reward may reflect lower effort sensitivity and/or greater reward sensitivity. Exact task-derived parameters will be analyzed exploratorily.
Time frame: Baseline and week 8
Plan to share: Yes — all IPD that underlie results in a publication
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form
Time frame: Beginning 3 months and ending 3 years after the publication of results
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
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