The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trials Network (CAPTN).

OBJECTIVE

The current generation of clinical trials in pediatric psychiatry often fails to maximize clinical utility for practicing clinicians, thereby diluting its impact.

METHOD

To attain maximum clinical relevance and acceptability, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trials Network (CAPTN) will transport to pediatric psychiatry the practical clinical trials model widely used in other areas of medicine.

RESULTS

CAPTN, a collaborative effort of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, will conduct large, simple "practical" trials that provide generalizable answers to important clinical questions without bias. "Large" in this case means the random allocation of thousands of patients in hundreds of clinical centers to different treatments as they are delivered in community settings. "Simple" means that the number and type of data elements (and, hence, subject and investigator burden) is small and straightforward so as not to discourage provider or patient participation and to maximize the number of subjects per dollar spent.

CONCLUSION

With 200 to 400 child and adolescent psychiatrists each participating in two or three practical clinical trials over 4 years, CAPTN promises to advance both the evidence base and research capacity in child and adolescent psychiatry.