Introduction and Overview
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Philip W. Lavori [1] ; Jennifer Kelsey [1]
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[1] Stanford University
Stanford University
Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Epidemiologic reviews, ISSN 0193-936X, ISSN-e 1478-6729, Vol 24, 1, 2002, págs. 1-3
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
As the articles in this issue of Epidemiologic Reviews make clear, the modern randomized controlled trial is an intricate, technically complex, and delicate operation.
Success relies on balancing the demands of scientific rigor, ethical conduct, practicality, and cost. Because the randomized controlled trial is essentially a medical experiment on human beings, it is an ethically charged undertaking, with intensely real consequences to the research volunteer. At the same time, the randomized controlled trial is at present the unchallenged source of the highest standard of evidence used to guide clinical decision making. No competing methodology is even on the horizon, although there are many lively developments aimed at improving the randomized controlled trial or adapting it to special contexts and difficulties. We can expect that advances in basic biomedical sciences will expand the body of knowledge regarding the clinical consequences of treatments, but there will always be a border with ignorance; at that border, chance and uncertainty will predominate.
