17 research outputs found
Critical appraisal of arguments for the delayed-start design proposed as alternative to the parallel-group randomized clinical trial design in the field of rare disease
Hierarchical clustering for the evaluation of transitivity assumption in a network of interventions
Comparison of methods to handle missing binary outcome data in network meta-analysis: an empirical study
Comparison of exclusion, imputation and modelling of missing binary outcome data in frequentist network meta-analysis
Principle considerations regarding the use of adaptive designs for trials in rare diseases and small populations
Evaluating the quality of reporting the transitivity assumption in complex networks of interventions
The impact of trial characteristics on premature discontinuation of antipsychotics in schizophrenia.
UNLABELLED: Patient dropout is common in mental health trials. It is important to understand why patients drop out from trials, so that measures can be taken to minimize its occurrence. This research sought to identify trial characteristics that have an impact on premature discontinuation in antipsychotic trials for schizophrenia. METHODS: Poisson regression analysis was applied with dropout rate per patient-week as the dependent variable and trial characteristics as independent variables. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to examine whether the same characteristics predict whether patients drop out without providing any outcome data and whether they drop out with sufficient early data for a 'last observation carried forward' analysis to be performed. RESULTS: trials with adequate allocation concealment, double blinding, placebo as control, higher precision, larger trial size, at least three treatment arms, recent publication, conduct in the United States and enrollment of inpatients were all associated with higher dropout rates. Similar factors were associated with whether a patient was more likely to be evaluated at least once, or be excluded entirely from the analysis. However, blinding status did not predict the former type of dropout, and allocation concealment, higher precision and larger sample size, number of arms, recent publication and recruiting inpatient did not predict the latter type of dropout. CONCLUSIONS: high dropout rates in antipsychotic trials can be associated with various characteristics, and appears to be particularly associated with use of placebo and study size