AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/glossary/rct
Randomised controlled trial
A randomised controlled trial is a study that puts people into groups by chance, so that a treatment can be compared with something else given to a control group.
Summary
- Allocating people by chance reduces bias in the results, because nobody chooses which patients get the new treatment.
- The control group may get a dummy treatment or no treatment. Where a proven treatment already exists, it gets the standard treatment instead.
- In many trials nobody knows who is in which group, so expectations cannot colour the results.
- The researchers measure outcomes at set times and test any difference statistically.
Interview questions
- Why do researchers put patients into trial groups at random?
- A patient wants a new drug but does not want to join a trial where they might not get it. What would you say to them?
- Why might the result of a trial not apply to the patient in front of you?
Sources
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