Appraising therapy studies

Question 1

what are the important questions to ask when establishing validity for therapy studies?

Answer 1

1. clearly defined research question?
2. randomized?
3. all subjects accounted for?
4. blinding?
5. equal treatment between groups?
6. comparable groups after randomizing?

Question 2

what is the most important thing to look for in RCTs?

Answer 2

concealed allocation

Question 3

definition: intention to treat

Answer 3

making sure subjects are analyzed in the group to which they were assigned

preserves randomization

Question 4

not randomizing can lead to what type of results?

Answer 4

false positives

Question 5

what is the importance of confidence intervals?

Answer 5

allows one to decide on strength or weakness of the information derived from a study

calculating a CI around a specific result gives the reader an idea of the accuracy of the particular study

range of values around a demonstrated difference

Question 6

results of interest are not statistically significant when the CI crosses what line?

Answer 6

1.0 - line of no difference

Question 7

definition: number needed to treat

Answer 7

number of patients you would have to treat to achieve one “good result” (or to avoid one negative result)