Alcoholism and Schizophrenia: Effects of Clozapine

Dartmouth Health

Status and phase

Terminated

Phase 4

Conditions

Dual Diagnosis

Schizophrenia

Schizoaffective Disorder

Alcohol Abuse

Substance Abuse

Psychotic Disorder

Treatments

Drug: Clozapine versus typical (conventional) and atypical antipsychotic medications

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Industry

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00169026

AA11904

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to examine the short - term effects of clozapine on alcohol use in persons with schizophrenia and an alcohol use disorder. The hypothesis is that clozapine will have greater efficacy in reducing alcohol use than other antipsychotic medications.

Sex

All

Ages

19 to 65 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
Current diagnosis of an alcohol use disorder with active use in the last 30 days.
The participant (or the participant's authorized legal representative) understands the nature of the study and has he/she signed an informed consent.
Ages 19-65.
Taking olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine or a typical antipsychotic agent for at least 8 weeks prior to study randomization
If taking depot medication, at least 3 injection cycles since the last injection prior to study randomization.

Exclusion criteria

Contraindication to clozapine
Women who are currently pregnant or who desire to become pregnant during the course of the study.
Current and past treatment with clozapine
Current treatment with agents proposed to curtail substance use (e.g., disulfiram, naltrexone, acamprosate, buspirone) and agents contraindicated for use with clozapine (e.g., inderal, tegretol, lithium).
Meets DSM-IV criteria for current dependence of substances other than alcohol.