Intro to clinical research Flashcards
1
Q
What is evidence based medicine?
A
- the application of the best available research to clinical care, which requires the integration of evidence with clinical expertise and patient values
- experimental studies
- Randomised controlled trials etc
2
Q
How is level 1A evidence obtained?
A
- Meta analusis
- well-conducted and well-designed ransomised trials
- strong clincial evidence
3
Q
How is level 1B evidence obtained?
A
- a single well conducted and well designed randomised controlled trial
- rct = gold standard for clinical medicine
4
Q
How is level 2a evidence obtained?
A
- at least one well-designed case-control or cohort study
- cannot effectively or ethically study all clinical questions
5
Q
How is level 3 evidence obtained?
A
- at least one non-experimenral study
- It would include case series, not well-designed case control or cohort studies
6
Q
How is level 4 evidence obtained?
A
- includes expert opinions from respected authorities on the subject based on their clinical experience
7
Q
What is randomisation?
A
- Patients in a randomised controlled trial are allocated treatment or control groups in a random manner
- process enhances similarity between the two groups and reduces the risk of allocation bias (aka selection bias)
8
Q
What are some subtypes of randomisation?
A
- stratified randomisation
- Blocked randomisation
- Cluster randomisation
9
Q
What is blinding?
A
- Aims to reduce the effect of bias on the results of your RCT
- Blinding the participants reduces performance bias
- Blinding the clinicians reduces dettection bias (aka observer/assessment bias)
10
Q
What is the placebo effect?
A
- A perceived/ measured improvement in a patient’s health even though they have taken an inert med or received a sham procedure
11
Q
Wat are some challenges with trials of complex interventions?
A
- Blinding
- intervention
- outcome assessment
- Unforseen confounding/ systematic bias
