A Paradigm for Facilitating Pharmacotherapy at a Distance: Sertraline Treatment of the Night Eating Syndrome
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To test a novel method of facilitating pharmacotherapy at a distance and assess the effectiveness of sertraline for the treatment of night eating syndrome (NES). METHOD: The effectiveness of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline in the treatment of NES was assessed at a distance. NES is characterized by a delay in the circadian rhythm of food intake, with evening hyperphagia and/or nighttime awakenings and ingestions. Persons who contacted us through our Web site, e-mail, or telephone for help with their NES completed a Night Eating Questionnaire and received a semistructured interview (Night Eating Syndrome History and Inventory) to determine the presence of NES. Fifty such persons received treatment with sertraline from their own physicians, to whom we offered consultation. Participants completed questionnaires every 2 weeks for 8 weeks and received a final telephone interview to assess their progress. Outcomes were compared with those from an earlier face-to-face open-label trial of sertraline. The study was conducted from September 2003 to May 2005. RESULTS: Both the questionnaires and interviews showed improvements in 5 key aspects of NES: the general Night Eating Symptom Scale, evening hyperphagia, nighttime awakenings, nocturnal ingestions, and the Beck Depression Inventory (all p < .001), and the mean body weight of the 41 overweight and obese subjects, reported by survey, fell 3.0 kg (p = .01). These results are similar to those obtained in an earlier face-to-face trial of sertraline with NES. CONCLUSION: The study confirmed the effectiveness of sertraline in the treatment of NES and introduced a paradigm for facilitating pharmaco-therapy at a distance.
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Treatment with SSRIs restores the circadian rhythm and appears to be effective in controlling the episodes of nocturnal eating.
“Treatment with SSRIs restores the circadian rhythm and it appears to be effective in controlling the episodes of nocturnal eating (Miyaoka et al., 2003; O'Reardon et al., 2005; Stunkard et al., 2006).”
From Biological rhythms, higher brain function, and behavior: Gaps, opportunities, and challenges (2009) · cites this paper as Stunkard et al., 2006
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McCuen‐Wurst, C., Ruggieri, M., & Allison, K. C. (2017) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.13467 · Cited by 409 · see citing works
“The three studies showed significant reductions in awakenings, nocturnal ingestions, and caloric intake after the evening meal, 79–81 including a response rate of 67% and a remission rate of 29% with sertraline.”
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Self-citationCircadian Rhythm Profiles in Women with Night Eating Syndrome
Goel, N., Stunkard, A. J., Rogers, N. L., Dongen, H. P. A. V., Allison, K. C., O’Reardon, J. P., Ahima, R. S., Cummings, D. E., Heo, M., & Dinges, D. F. (2009) · Journal of Biological Rhythms · doi:10.1177/0748730408328914 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
“…18 22 26 30 34 cumulative time of day in su lin (n g/ m l) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 6 10 14 18 22 26 30 34 cumulative time of day in su lin (n g/ m l) inhibitor treatment (O’Reardon et al., 2006; Stunkard et al., 2006) and show elevated midbrain serotonin transporter binding (Lundgren et al., 2008).”
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“Recent evidence suggests that treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, sertraline, is effective in reducing nighttime eating and promoting weight loss in obese individuals with NES (O’Reardon et al. 2006; Stunkard et al. 2006).”
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“The first open label trials using sertraline were successful in decreasing the core symptoms of NES-nocturnal ingestions and evening hyperphagia (O’Reardon, Stunkard, & Allison, 2004; Stunkard et al., 2006).”
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“A second open-label trial of sertraline enrolled 50 night eaters who lived at a distance from our clinic (60).”
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“As recent research suggests that night eating symptoms may be a modifiable behavior through the use of psychotherapy (Allison, Lundgren, Moore, O’Reardon, & Stunkard, 2010a; Pawlow, O’Neil, & Malcom, 2003) and/ or pharmacotherapy (Allison & Tarves, 2011; O’Reardon et al., 2006; O’Reardon, Stunkard, & Allison, 2004; St…”
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“The impetus for this investigation was the efficacy of the SSRI sertraline in the treatment of NES in three clinical trials (O'Reardon et al., 2004b, 2006; Stunkard et al., 2006).”
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“Also, improvement in NES symptoms by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatments support the role of the serotonin system in the pathopshysiology of NES (Allison et al., 2013; O’Reardon et al., 2006; O’Reardon, Ringel, et al., 2004; Stunkard et al., 2006).”
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- Authors
- Stunkard, A. J., Allison, K. C., Lundgren, J. D., Martino, N. S., Heo, M., Etemad, B., & O'Reardon, J. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc
- Published
- 2006-10-15
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1568-1572
- ISSN
- 0160-6689 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1982296322
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 5.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK 56735-04, R01DK056735)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- night eating syndrome, sertraline, telemedicine, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, nocturnal awakenings, night eating, depression, weight loss
- MeSH terms
- Feeding and Eating Disorders, Body Weight, Bulimia, Circadian Rhythm, Eating, Humans, Hyperphagia, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Interviews as Topic, Obesity, Personality Inventory, Surveys and Questionnaires, Treatment Outcome, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Remote Consultation, Sertraline, Internet, Electronic Mail
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