Chronotherapy for Depressive Episodes

NCT ID: NCT05691647

Last Updated: 2025-12-31

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 76 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-04-12
• Study Completion Date: 2040-01-31

Brief Summary

Evidence-based treatments for depression, such as antidepressive medication, usually have a latency of 4 to 6 weeks before they achieve a therapeutic effect. Chronotherapy is a group of non-pharmacological interventions that presumably act on the circadian system to achieve a rapid-onset clinical effect and better long-term effects and has been shown efficient to improve depressive symptoms. Interventions include sleep deprivation, sleep-phase advancement and stabilization, and light therapy. There are few studies testing the effectiveness of combining these three chronotherapeutic techniques in the initial phase of treatment of depression in a mental health care clinic. The investigators aim to test the effects and safety of chronotherapy in addition to TAU compared to TAU alone, with the primary outcome being self-reported depressive symptoms at 1 week following randomization. The study is a randomized controlled trial with 76 patients with a depressive episode who initiate treatment at Nidaros DPS, St. Olavs University Hospital. Participants will be allocated 1:1 to either chronotherapy + treatment as usual (TAU) or to TAU alone.

Conditions

Depressive Episode

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Chronotherapy + treatment as usual

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Chronotherapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Chronotherapy involves three different interventions. Sleep deprivation/wake therapy will be conducted for 34 hours. To assist wake and to ensure that the participants adhere to the sleep deprivation, outpatients will be admitted to a one-night stay at the inpatient ward that is connected to the outpatient clinic at Nidaros DPS. Patients already admitted to inpatient treatment will be temporary transferred to the ward selected to oversee the sleep deprivation. Upon discharge, participants are encouraged to adhere to the sleep schedule which presents the sleep-wake phase advancement and later stabilization of the sleep-wake phase. Light therapy is provided for half an hour every day from day four in the study. In addition to the chronotherapeutic interventions, the participants will receive treatment as usual (TAU) with their assigned therapist.

Treatment as usual

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants allocated to receive TAU alone, will receive standard treatment for a depressive episode in the outpatient or the inpatient clinic. This study will not give restrictions or guidelines on how this treatment should be performed. The TAU-group will receive the treatment the responsible therapist considers and evaluate best fitting in the situation. Typical interventions administered in therapy for a depressive episode includes medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other psychotherapies.

Treatment as usual

medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other psychotherapies.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Treatment as usual

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants allocated to receive TAU alone, will receive standard treatment for a depressive episode in the outpatient or the inpatient clinic. This study will not give restrictions or guidelines on how this treatment should be performed. The TAU-group will receive the treatment the responsible therapist considers and evaluate best fitting in the situation. Typical interventions administered in therapy for a depressive episode includes medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other psychotherapies.

Interventions

Chronotherapy

Chronotherapy involves three different interventions. Sleep deprivation/wake therapy will be conducted for 34 hours. To assist wake and to ensure that the participants adhere to the sleep deprivation, outpatients will be admitted to a one-night stay at the inpatient ward that is connected to the outpatient clinic at Nidaros DPS. Patients already admitted to inpatient treatment will be temporary transferred to the ward selected to oversee the sleep deprivation. Upon discharge, participants are encouraged to adhere to the sleep schedule which presents the sleep-wake phase advancement and later stabilization of the sleep-wake phase. Light therapy is provided for half an hour every day from day four in the study. In addition to the chronotherapeutic interventions, the participants will receive treatment as usual (TAU) with their assigned therapist.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Treatment as usual

Participants allocated to receive TAU alone, will receive standard treatment for a depressive episode in the outpatient or the inpatient clinic. This study will not give restrictions or guidelines on how this treatment should be performed. The TAU-group will receive the treatment the responsible therapist considers and evaluate best fitting in the situation. Typical interventions administered in therapy for a depressive episode includes medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other psychotherapies.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Being 18 years or older
• Willing and able to provide a written informed consent
• Newly diagnosed with an ongoing moderate or severe depressive episode according to the International Classification of Disorders 10th edition (ICD-10) and accepted for treatment for the depressive episode. The diagnosis is set in consensus of a licensed therapist and a specialist in psychiatry/psychology.
• The patient must score ≥ 9 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-6.
• Must be able to communicate in a Scandinavian language

Exclusion Criteria

• Illnesses and treatments where chronotherapy may be contraindicated (for example epilepsy, ongoing attack of multiple sclerosis, blindness, narcolepsy and psychotic depression, ECT treatment).
• Known pregnancy.
• Individuals with a known diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder (F60.3).
• Individuals with a known psychotic disorder
• Shiftwork or other related social or work circumstances that inhibit participation
• Participation in an ongoing trial at the outpatient clinic that encompasses digital cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (recruitment to this trial will end in 2023).

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 100 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

St. Olavs Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

St. Olavs Hospital, Nidaros DPS

Trondheim, , Norway

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Norway

Central Contacts

Knut Langsrud, PhD, MD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: +47 92647191

Email: knut.langsrud@stolav.no

References

Ramfjord LS, Kahn N, Langsrud K, Halvorsen JOO, Morken G, Saksvik S, Engvik LSS, Lydersen S, Kallestad H. Chronotherapy for patients with a depressive episode treated in a public outpatient mental healthcare clinic in Norway: protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 3;14(1):e076039. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-076039.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 38171633 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

480812

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id