Taking a chance: How likely am I to receive my preferred treatment in a clinical trial?

ABSTRACT: Researchers should ideally conduct clinical trials under a presumption of clinical equipoise, but in fact trial patients will often prefer one or other of the treatments being compared. Receiving an unblinded preferred treatment may affect the study outcome, possibly beneficially, but receiving a non-preferred treatment may induce 'reluctant acquiescence', and poorer outcomes. Even in blinded trials, patients' primary motivation to enrol may be the chance of potentially receiving a desirable experimental treatment, which is otherwise unavailable. Study designs with a higher probability of receiving a preferred treatment (denoted as 'concordance') will be attractive to potential participants, and investigators, because they may improve recruitment and hence enhance study efficiency. Therefo

SUBMITTER: Walter SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9983058 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature