Questions:
What makes the randomized controlled trial the “gold standard” of study designs? What is the key feature that makes it the most robust design?
RCT’s are considered prospective studies that measure the effectiveness of a new intervention or treatment, reducing bias and provides a tool to examine the cause-effect relationships between an intervention and outcome. The act of randomization helps balance the characteristics of observed and unobserved participants which allows attribution of any differences in the outcome to the study intervention which is not possible in any other study design making it the most robust study design.
What was the main exposure and main outcomes in the study?
How many people were successfully recruited to participate in the study and how were they recruited?
What were the selection criteria for the people in the study? In other words, what characteristics did all of the people in the study have in common?
What does Table 1 tell us about the intervention group and the control group? Were they different or the same? How do you know?
