1. Importance of randomized controlled trials in clinical research
- Establishes why RCTs are the gold standard in evaluating the efficacy of an intervention
- Highlights the difference between RCTs and observational studies
- Reviews relevant limitations
when conducting RCTs
2. Ethical guidelines and trial registration
- Discuss the Declaration of Helsinki and working with human participants
- Emphasizing the importance of ethical approval of the study and clinical trial oversight
- How to handle potential conflicts of interests
- Reviews how to properly register the trial in a WHO-approved registry
3. Randomized clinical trial designs
- Discusses the rationale for different phases and types of RCTs
- Reviews common RCT designs -- such as parallel, cross-over, factorial, and adaptive -- along with their advantages and disadvantages
4. Sampling and randomization methodologies
- Discusses how to avoid underpowered studies
- Highlights how to identify appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria
- Reviews various sampling strategies
- Introduces effective randomization strategies
5. Minimizing biases in randomized controlled trials
- Reviews the impact of selection bias on the generalizability of the RCT
- Introduces measurement/information biases that compromise the quality and validity of collected data
- Disuccuss how to minimize attrition bias and how to deal with missing data
- Emphasizes the importance of transparency in reporting RCTs by avoiding selective reporting and publication biases