title: The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trials Network (CAPTN).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current generation of clinical trials in pediatric psychiatry often fails to maximize clinical utility for practicing clinicians, thereby diluting its impact.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Duke Clinical Research Institute at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. jsmarch@acpub.duke.edu
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: March
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.forename: Ginger
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DeVeaugh-Geiss
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Califf
authors.forename: Ranga
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krishnan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry; D002648:Child; D002665:Child Psychiatry; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs