Why a Randomized Controlled Trial Is Critical in Determining the Efficacy of Medicine for Sore Throats

An advertisement in a medical journal stated that “2,000 subjects with sore throats were treated with our new medicine. Within 4 days, 94% were asymptomatic.” The advertisement claims that the medicine was effective. Based on the evidence given above, the claim:a. Is correctb. May be incorrect because the conclusion is not based on a ratec. May be incorrect because of failure to recognize a long-term cohort phenomenond. May be incorrect because no test of statistical significance was usede. May be incorrect because no control or comparison group was involved

E – May be incorrect because no control or comparison group was involved

e. May be incorrect because no control or comparison group was involved.

The advertisement claims that the medicine was effective in treating sore throats based on the fact that 94% of the 2,000 subjects were asymptomatic after four days of treatment. However, without a control or comparison group, it is impossible to determine whether the medicine is indeed responsible for the positive outcome. There could be other factors, such as the natural course of the illness or placebo effect, that could have contributed to the improvement. Therefore, a randomized controlled trial with a placebo group would have been necessary to determine the efficacy of the new medicine.

More Answers:

Optimizing Clinical Trials: The Benefits and Limitations of a Planned Crossover Design
Exploring the Use of One-Sided Test in Studying the Association between Estrogens and Endometrial Cancer
Maximizing Study Accuracy: The Importance of Double Blind or Double Masked Studies to Eliminate Observer and Subject Bias

Error 403 The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your quota. : quotaExceeded

Share:

Recent Posts