Design and subject characteristics in the federally-funded citalopram trial in children with pervasive developmental disorders

Lawrence Scahill, James T. McCracken, Karen Bearss, Fay Robinson, Eric Hollander, Bryan King, Joel Bregman, Lin Sikich, Kimberly Dukes, Lisa Sullivan, Evdokia Anagnostou, Craig Donnelly, Young Shin Kim, Louise Ritz, Deborah Hirtz, Ann Wagner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment Network conducted a randomized trial with citalopram in children with Pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). We present the rationale, design and sample characteristics of the citalopram trial. Subjects (128 boys, 21 girls) had a mean age of 9.3 (±3.12) years; 132 (88.6%) were diagnosed with autistic disorder (4.7% with Asperger's Disorder; 6.7% with PDD-not otherwise specified). Less than half of the subjects were intellectually disabled; 117 (78.5%) were rated Moderate or Marked on the Clinical Global Impression for Severity. Study measures were similar to previous Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology trials. Subjects in this trial were slightly older and more likely to have complaints of repetitive behavior than participants in RUPP trials.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)432-440
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume42
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2012

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Citalopram
  • Double-blind method
  • Repetitive behavior
  • Serotonin reuptake inhibitors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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