7.1 Randomised controlled trials Flashcards
RCT stands for ?
randomised controlled trials
Clinical trial :
any ..1… that prospectively ..2… or groups of humans to one or more ..3..to evaluate the effect on health outcomes
any form of …4… experiment which involves ..5.. and is designed to elucidate the most ..6… of future patients with a given medical condition
- research study
- assigns human participants
- health-related intervention
- planned
- patients
- appropriate method of treatment
What are the steps to an RCT ?
- formulate a hypothesis
- identify population of interest
- eligibility criteria (define inclusion + exclusion criteria)
- allocation (randomly allocate to intervention + control group)
- controlled conditions
- follow-up two groups equally and minimise loss to follow up
- measure outcomes
- compare outcomes (compare findings between intervention group and placebo)
why is randomisation so important ?
- to eliminate bias (known and unknown )
- to balance 2 groups for known / unknown confounding factors
non-random assignment risks what type of bias ?
allocation bias
what is allocation concealment ?
when the person randomising does NOT known what the next treatment allocation will be
What does allocation concealment :
- avoid ?
- ensure ?
- allocation bias
- adequate random allocation, sequence generation & adequate allocation concealment
placebo effect =
experimental results caused by ..1.. alone
any effect on ..2… caused by the administration of an ….3… or condition which the recipient assumes is an ..4..
- expectations
- behavoir
- inert substance
- active agent
What is a placebo ?
inert substance made to appear identical in every way to the active formualtion with which it is to be compared e.g. appearance, taste, texture, dosage, regime, warnings etc.
what is the placebo important to?
cancel out any ‘placebo effect’ that may exist in the active treatment
- Blinding (masking) is a procedure in which a person involved in the study is prevented from … ?
- who could be blinded ?
- knowing which treatment a participant is receiving
- participants, clinicians, research team involved in data collection / analysis
Blinding/masking is important because…
it minimises measurement bias
what is the placebo group ?
control group exposed to inert treatment
losses to follow-up leads to what type of bias ?
follow-up (attrition) bias
why is there loss to follow-up in trials ?
- clinical condition may necessitate their removal (appropriate)
- they may choose to withdraw (unfortunate)