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How should a clinician interpret results of randomized controlled trials?: Interpretation of randomized controlled trials

How should a clinician interpret results of randomized controlled trials?: Interpretation of... How should a clinician interpret results of randomized controlled trials?: Interpretation of randomized controlled trials Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews are the most reliable methods of determining the effects of treatment. The randomization procedure gives a randomized controlled trial its strength. Random allocation means that all participants have the same chance of being assigned to each of the study groups. The choice of which end point(s) to select is critical to any study design. Intention-to-treat is the preferred approach to the analysis of clinical trials. Sample size calculations and data analyses have an important impact on the planning, interpretation, and conclusions of randomized trials. In this article, we discuss the problematic areas that can affect the outcome of a trial, such as blinding, sample size calculation, randomization; concealment allocation; intention of treating the analysis; selection of end points; selection of traditional versus equivalence testing, early stopped trials, selective publications. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Acta Medica Lithuanica de Gruyter

How should a clinician interpret results of randomized controlled trials?: Interpretation of randomized controlled trials

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the
ISSN
1392-0138
eISSN
2029-4174
DOI
10.2478/v10140-010-0004-x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

How should a clinician interpret results of randomized controlled trials?: Interpretation of randomized controlled trials Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews are the most reliable methods of determining the effects of treatment. The randomization procedure gives a randomized controlled trial its strength. Random allocation means that all participants have the same chance of being assigned to each of the study groups. The choice of which end point(s) to select is critical to any study design. Intention-to-treat is the preferred approach to the analysis of clinical trials. Sample size calculations and data analyses have an important impact on the planning, interpretation, and conclusions of randomized trials. In this article, we discuss the problematic areas that can affect the outcome of a trial, such as blinding, sample size calculation, randomization; concealment allocation; intention of treating the analysis; selection of end points; selection of traditional versus equivalence testing, early stopped trials, selective publications.

Journal

Acta Medica Lithuanica – de Gruyter

Published: Jun 29, 2010

References

  • A primer on the design, conduct, and interpretation of clinical trials
    L. Appel
  • An overview of clinical research: the lay of the land
    D. Grimes
  • Reporting of sample size calculation in randomised controlled trials: review
    P. Charles
  • Discrepancies in sample size calculations and data analyses reported in randomised trials: comparison of publications with protocols
    A. Chan
  • Quality of reporting of noninferiority and equivalence randomized trials
    A. Le Henanff