Trial Outcomes & Findings for Exercise and Pharmacotherapy for Anxiety in Cardiac Patients (NCT NCT02516332)

NCT ID: NCT02516332

Last Updated: 2021-06-11

Results Overview

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Anxiety, is a 7-item subscale with scores ranging from 0-21, with higher scores indicating more anxiety.

• Recruitment status: COMPLETED
• Study phase: NA
• Target enrollment: 128 participants
• Primary outcome timeframe: Baseline, 3 months
• Results posted on: 2021-06-11

Participant Flow

Participant milestones

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Overall Study STARTED	52	53	23
Overall Study COMPLETED	50	52	21
Overall Study NOT COMPLETED	2	1	2

Reasons for withdrawal

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Overall Study Withdrawal by Subject	2	1	2

Baseline Characteristics

Exercise and Pharmacotherapy for Anxiety in Cardiac Patients

Baseline characteristics by cohort

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo	Total n=128 Participants Total of all reporting groups
Age, Continuous	65.2 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.1 • n=5 Participants	63.9 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.6 • n=7 Participants	65.2 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.8 • n=5 Participants	64.6 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.6 • n=4 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Female	17 Participants n=5 Participants	14 Participants n=7 Participants	6 Participants n=5 Participants	37 Participants n=4 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Male	35 Participants n=5 Participants	39 Participants n=7 Participants	17 Participants n=5 Participants	91 Participants n=4 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino	1 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	1 Participants n=4 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino	51 Participants n=5 Participants	53 Participants n=7 Participants	23 Participants n=5 Participants	127 Participants n=4 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native	1 Participants n=5 Participants	4 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	5 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Asian	2 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	2 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American	8 Participants n=5 Participants	12 Participants n=7 Participants	5 Participants n=5 Participants	25 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) White	40 Participants n=5 Participants	36 Participants n=7 Participants	18 Participants n=5 Participants	94 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	1 Participants n=5 Participants	1 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	2 Participants n=4 Participants
Region of Enrollment United States	52 Participants n=5 Participants	53 Participants n=7 Participants	23 Participants n=5 Participants	128 Participants n=4 Participants

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Anxiety, is a 7-item subscale with scores ranging from 0-21, with higher scores indicating more anxiety.

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Anxiety	-3.9 score on a scale Interval -4.6 to -3.2	-5.7 score on a scale Interval -6.4 to -5.0	-3.5 score on a scale Interval -4.6 to -2.5

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

To quantify heart rate variability (HRV), an electrocardiogram was recorded for 24-hours using the 3-channel DigiTrak XT Holter recorder (Philips Healthcare, Andover, Massachusetts). Electrocardiographic data were downloaded and edited using the Philips Zymed Holter analysis software (2010 Plus/1810 series) and HRV was estimated from the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal R-R intervals (SDNN).

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Heart Rate Variability, SDNN (Msec)	-0.3 msec Interval -22.5 to 22.0	-8.7 msec Interval -31.4 to 13.9	-1.1 msec Interval -37.1 to 35.0

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

To assess baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), beat-by-beat systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were collected using the Nexfin noninvasive BP monitor (Bmeye, Amsterdam, Netherlands). BRS was estimated from the magnitude of the transfer function relating R-R interval oscillations to SBP oscillations across the 0.07 to 0.1299 Hz, or low frequency band.

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Baroreflex Sensitivity, ms/mm Hg	1.2 ms/mm Hg Interval -7.0 to 9.4	1.3 ms/mm Hg Interval -4.9 to 7.4	1.5 ms/mm Hg Interval -10.6 to 13.6

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

Endothelial function, assessed by Flow-Mediated Dilation (FMD), was determined from longitudinal B-mode ultrasound images of the brachial artery. Images were obtained using an Acuson (Mountain View, California) Aspen ultrasound platform with an 11-MHz linear-array transducer after 10 min of supine relaxation and during reactive hyperemia, induced by the inflation of a forearm pneumatic occlusion cuff to suprasystolic pressure (about 200 mm Hg) and subsequent deflation after 5 min. FMD was defined as the maximum percentage change in arterial diameter relative to resting baseline from 10 to 120 s after deflation of the occlusion cuff.

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Vascular Endothelial Function, Percentage of Dilation	0.7 percentage of dilation Interval -0.2 to 1.5	0.5 percentage of dilation Interval -0.4 to 1.3	0.5 percentage of dilation Interval -0.8 to 1.8

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein was quantified by ELISA (LabCorp). Values >10 mg/L were truncated at 10 to account for acute inflammatory processes that may have skewed the distribution of this blood marker.

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Inflammation (C-Reactive Protein, ug/ml)	-0.2 ug/ml Interval -3.0 to 2.5	0.1 ug/ml Interval -2.0 to 2.2	-0.3 ug/ml Interval -4.0 to 3.4

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

Urinary catecholamines, an index of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, served as a biomarker of anxiety. Urinary concentrations of epinephrine (EPI) and norepinephrine (NE) were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection (LabCorp). A composite 24-hr catecholamines z-score is presented. The z-score is the raw score minus the population mean, divided by the population standard deviation. A Z-score of 0 is equal to the mean. Negative numbers indicate values lower than the mean and positive numbers indicate values higher than the mean.

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Urinary Catecholamines (Epinephrine and Norepinephrine, Unit-weighted Z-score)	0.05 z-score Interval -0.2 to 0.3	-0.24 z-score Interval -0.4 to 0.0	0.36 z-score Interval 0.0 to 0.7

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline, 3 months

Lipids were obtained from fasting blood samples and assays were measured enzymatically (LabCorp).

Outcome measures

Measure	Supervised Aerobic Exercise n=52 Participants Patients will exercise three times per week, under medical supervision, at a level of 70-85% of their VO2peak as determined at the time of their baseline exercise stress test. Patients' exercise will consist of 10 minutes of gradual warm-up exercises followed by 35 minutes of continuous walking, biking, or jogging, and 5 minutes of cool down exercises for a total a 50 minutes per session. Patients will be instructed to monitor their radial pulses and will be checked at least three times per session to ensure that they are within their prescribed exercise training ranges. Supervised Aerobic Exercise	Lexapro n=53 Participants Treatment in the medication will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service. The investigators will use the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro), which has received FDA approval for the treatment of anxiety, in 5 mg capsules. Medication will be dispensed as capsules of escitalopram in individually coded bottles. Medication adherence will be assessed using pill count at each study visit. Patients will visit face-to-face with a study psychiatrist at week 0 (baseline), week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8, and week 12 with phone encounters at weeks 3 and 6. The psychiatrist will make all medication adjustments based primarily upon Spielberger Anxiety Scores. Depending on symptoms, daily escitalopram doses will be titrated to 10 mg after week 2 and to 15 mg or placebo equivalent at week 3 if patients show no change or only minimal improvement. Lexapro	Placebo n=23 Participants Treatment in the medication and placebo pill arms will be supervised by a study psychiatrist. Drug dispensing will be done by licensed pharmacists at the Duke Investigational Pharmacy Service, who have extensive experience in clinical trials. Medication will be taken once daily in the morning but can be switched to once daily in the evening if deemed necessary. Placebo medication administration will follow the same protocol as outlined for Lexapro. Placebo
Change in Lipids - Total Cholesterol, LDL (Low-density Lipoprotein), and HDL (High-density Lipoprotein); mg/dL Total Cholesterol	-28.2 mg/dL Interval -67.3 to 10.8	-15.3 mg/dL Interval -50.6 to 20.0	-31.6 mg/dL Interval -90.2 to 27.1
Change in Lipids - Total Cholesterol, LDL (Low-density Lipoprotein), and HDL (High-density Lipoprotein); mg/dL HDL	6.3 mg/dL Interval -4.4 to 16.9	3.4 mg/dL Interval -5.5 to 12.4	7.2 mg/dL Interval -8.3 to 22.7
Change in Lipids - Total Cholesterol, LDL (Low-density Lipoprotein), and HDL (High-density Lipoprotein); mg/dL LDL	-18.6 mg/dL Interval -46.3 to 9.2	-9.8 mg/dL Interval -33.5 to 13.9	-19.3 mg/dL Interval -59.9 to 21.4

OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED outcome

Timeframe: 9 months, 15 months

Outcome measures

Outcome data not reported

Adverse Events

Supervised Aerobic Exercise

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Lexapro

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Placebo

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Serious adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Other adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Additional Information

Patrick Smith, Ph.D.

Duke University

Phone: 919-681-3006

Email: patrick.j.smith@duke.edu

Results disclosure agreements

• Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
• Publication restrictions are in place