RT Journal
A1 Taylor E
T1 DEvelopment of clinical services for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
JF Archives of General Psychiatry
JO Archives of General Psychiatry
YR 1999
FD December 1
VO 56
IS 12
SP 1097
OP 1099
DO 10.1001/archpsyc.56.12.1097
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.12.1097
AB 
THE RESULTS of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA) trial by the MTA Cooperative group1- 2 have been eagerly awaited internationally. It is a landmark in the evolution of children's mental health into an evidence-based discipline. It is particularly impressive that so detailed and intensive a treatment regimen was delivered consistently across sites for so many cases. For once, the number of subjects in a trial is enough for robust conclusions. The outcome measures do justice to the complexity of the disorder and include most of the major domains in which adverse outcomes are to be expected in untreated groups. The strong lesson is that ambitious trials are also feasible. Where there are the will and resources to test treatment practices, it can be done with sufficient rigor to command authority from statisticians, trial experts, and clinicians.