Design and Rationale for a Randomized, Controlled Trial of Interpersonal Psychotherapy and Citalopram for Depression in Coronary Artery Disease

Objective: Recognition that depression is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients has augmented the need for evidence-based treatment guidelines. This article presents the design of a multisite, Canadian trial of the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), an empirically supported, depression-focused therapy, and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram, alone or in combination, in the treatment of major depression in CAD patients. Methods: Two hundred eighty stable CAD patients with a current major depressive episode of at least 4 weeks’ duration, based on the Structured Clinical Interview for Depression (SCID), and who have a baseline score 19 on a centralized, telephone-administered, 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) will be randomly assigned to receive 12 weekly IPT sessions or 12 weekly sessions of standardized clinical management (CM). Patients are also randomly assigned to receive 20 to 40 mg per day of citalopram or pill-placebo. This results in a 2-by-2 factorial design with four groups: IPT plus pill-placebo, IPT plus citalopram, CM plus pill-placebo, and CM plus citalopram. This permits the evaluation of both IPT and citalopram. Blinded, centralized, 24-item, HAM-D telephone ratings constitute the primary outcome variable. The self-report Beck Depression Inventory-II is the secondary outcome. Analyses will involve the intent-to-treat principle with last observation carried forward for incomplete assessments. Results: Not applicable. Conclusions: The results of this trial will contribute to the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines for managing depression in the context of CAD. Key words: psychotherapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, 2-by-2 factorial, telephone assessment, clinical trial, coronary artery disease