The Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network: 1. Rationale and methods

BackgroundThe Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network (SFBN) was created to address the paucity of help studies in bipolar illness.AimsTo describe the rationale and methods of the SFBN.MethodThe SFBN includes five core sites and a number of affiliated sites that have adopted consistent methodology for continuous longitudinal monitoring of patients. Open and controlled studies are performed as patients' symptomatology dictates.ResultsThe reliability of SFBN raters and the validity of the rating instruments have been established. More than 500 patients are in continuous daily longitudinal follow-up. More than 125 have been randomised to one of three of the newer antidepressants (bupropion, sertraline and venlafaxine) as adjuncts in a study of mood stabilisers and 93 to omega-3 fatty acids. A number of open clinical case series have been published.ConclusionsWell-characterised patients are followed in a detailed continuous longitudinal fashion in both opportunistic case series and double-blind, randomised controlled trials with reliable and validated measures.