Review article

https://doi.org/10.21860/medflum2017_187364

Importance of conducting randomised clinical trials

Davor Štimac ; Zavod za gastroenterologiju, Klinika za internu medicinu, Klinički bolnički centar Rijeka, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Alojzije Lacković ; Medicinski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Goran Poropat ; Zavod za gastroenterologiju, Klinika za internu medicinu, Klinički bolnički centar Rijeka, Rijeka, Hrvatska

Abstract

Clinical trial (experiment or study) is considered to be the only scientific evidence of the efficiency of a drug, therapeutic or surgical procedure. In the last 50 years, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have become the dominant form of research in medical science and today they represent the base of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). RCTs are quantitative comparative controlled experiments in which the effect of two or more clinical procedures is compared on subjects randomly divided into several research groups. The level of evidence, obtained through randomized clinical trials, represents the highest level of evidence in medical science, and the guidelines that represent systematized principles of medical treatment are mainly based on the best available clinical data. Guidelines allow physicians, in combination with their own experience and knowledge, while simultaneously taking care of personality and charateristics of patients, providing patients the best available treatment. Quality of RCT results depends on certain characteristics of the research itself, such as the adequately conducted randomization procedure, the "blindness" of researchers and subjects and properly designed research protocol. Despite the great number of advantages, there are certain negative characteristics of randomized clinical trials, such as ethical questions of justification of the research, price of the research, impossibility to carry out the research itself, and inadequate knowledge of patients about the importance of their implementation, both for medical science and them.

Keywords

blinding; evidence-based medicine; randomisation

Hrčak ID:

187364

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/187364

Publication date:

1.12.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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