RandomisationIf you take part in a randomised controlled trial, you will have an equal chance of receiving any of the treatments being compared. The decision about which treatment you’ll receive is based on chance. A computer will decide which treatment you’ll receive, not you or the doctor. This is called randomisation.
Randomisation ensures that the groups of people receiving different treatments in a trial are as similar as possible, except for the treatment they receive. This is important because it means that researchers can be sure that any differences between the groups are only due to the treatment.
Randomisation is the best way of ensuring that the results of trials are not biased. For example, if a doctor chose which treatment a participant should receive as part of a trial, she or he might give the new treatment to sicker participants, or to younger participants. This would make the results of a trial unreliable. Randomisation helps prevent this kind of bias.
Randomised controlled trialsMany clinical trials are randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Clinical trials aim to make a fair comparison between a new treatment and the current treatment on offer, or between two (or more) existing treatments, to see which one works best.
A controlled trial compares two groups of people: an experimental group who receive the new treatment, and a control group who receive the usual treatment or a placebo. The control group allows the researchers to see whether the treatment they are testing is any more or less effective than the usual or standard treatment.
If you take part in a randomised controlled trial, you will have an equal chance of receiving any of the treatments being compared. The decision about which treatment you’ll receive is random – or based on chance. A computer will decide which treatment you’ll receive, not you or the doctor. This is called randomisation.
Randomisation ensures that the two groups of people in a trial are as similar as possible, except for the treatment they receive. This is important because it means that researchers can be sure that any differences between the groups are only due to the treatment.
Randomisation is also the best way of ensuring that the results of trials are not biased. For example, if a doctor chose which treatment a participant should receive as part of a trial, she or he might give the new treatment to sicker participants, or to younger participants. This would make the results of a trial unreliable. Randomisation helps prevent this kind of bias.
