Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1992-8-12
pubmed:abstractText
The randomized clinical trial (RCT) is the preferred method for assessing the efficacy of treatments. Recent ethical and logistical criticisms suggest that new variations of the traditional RCT are needed. Some of these criticisms may be addressed with new hybrid designs that combine random assignment with assignment by one or more cutoff values on a baseline variable (e.g., severity of illness). In a simple version of such a "cutoff-based" RTC, persons scoring below a cutoff score on a baseline measure (i.e., the least severely ill) are automatically assigned to the control-treated group, those scoring above a second, higher cutoff (i.e., the most ill) are automatically assigned to the test-treated group, and those scoring in the interval between the cutoff scores (i.e., the moderately ill) are randomly assigned to either group. Depending on the baseline score, the patient is assigned to treatment either randomly or by the need-based, clinically related baseline score. Six cutoff-based design variations are studied via simulations and compared with the traditional RCT and the single-cutoff (i.e., regression-discontinuity) design. All variations yield unbiased estimates of the treatment effect but estimates differ in efficiency, with the RCT being most efficient and the single-cutoff design being least efficient. Secondary analyses of data from the Cross-National Collaborative Study of the Effects of Alprazolam (Xanax) on panic are conducted for each variation by selectivity discarding cases from the original dataset to stimulate cutoff-based assignment. The results confirm the simulations and illustrate how cutoff-based designs might look with real data.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0197-2456
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
13
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
190-212
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1992
pubmed:articleTitle
Cutoff assignment strategies for enhancing randomized clinical trials.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Human Service Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article