Fundamentals of Controlled Clinical Trials and Basic Evaluation Techniques

Controlled clinical trials (CCTs) are needed to determine if a difference is present between two or more interventions (e.g, medication versus placebo). Most biomedical journals require an author to conform to a standarized format to report a CCT. The preparation of the manuscript according to this manner increases the readability and comprehension plus enables the readers to quickly locate pertinent information. Although guidelines have been developed to prepare and report CCTs, limitations are present and errors do occur; no study design and author'S description is perfect. Thus, a CCT should be critiqued using literature analysis skills to identify study strengths and limitations that should be considered in interpreting the overall meaning of the trial. Furthermore, results of more than one CCT should be analyzed before changing practice habits since no one study answers all of the questions and addresses all the issues.