Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Evidence-Based Practice
Lecture:Phrasing the clinical question
Interventions
Slide content:Questions to Ask about a Study on Intervention Are the results valid? Did experimental and control groups begin the study with a similar prognosis? Were patients randomized? Was randomization concealed (blinded or masked)? Were patients analyzed in the groups to which they were randomized? Were patients in treatment and control groups similar with respect to known prognosis? 9
Slide notes:9 To determine whether results are valid, we ask if the experimental and control groups began the study with a similar prognosis: Were the patient groups identical? Were the patients then randomized into the control or experimental treatment? Was the randomization concealed from the clinicianthat is, did the clinician have absolutely no role in the randomization? (If the clinician can bias the randomization, then the clinician will bias the trial.) Were the patients analyzed in the groups to which they were randomized (sometimes called intent-to-treat analysis )? Were the patients in the treatment and control groups similar with respect to the known prognosis? Sometimes the randomization does not work, and we end up with somewhat different groups, which raises concerns about the validity of the RCT.