Abstract
Rev Bras Ter Intensiva. 2009;21(2):219-225
DOI 10.1590/S0103-507X2009000200016
Randomized controlled trials are scientific investigations considered as the gold-standard to evaluate therapeutic interventions. Randomized controlled trials may examine the safety and efficacy of new drugs and therapeutic procedures or compare the effects of two or more drugs or any other intervention. In this article, we present the essential features of these studies, as well as, factors which may bias randomized controlled trials. We also present criteria to critically appraise articles reporting randomized controlled trials, explain how to interpret the results and how to apply them to clinical practice.
Abstract
Rev Bras Ter Intensiva. 2009;21(1):45-50
DOI 10.1590/S0103-507X2009000100007
OBJECTIVE: A randomized clinical trial is a prospective study that compares the effect and value of interventions in human beings, of one or more groups vs. a control group. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of published randomized clinical trials in Intensive care in Brazil. METHODS: All randomized clinical trials in intensive care found by manual search in Revista Brasileira de Terapia Intensiva from January 2001 to March 2008 were assessed to evaluate their description by the quality scale. Descriptive statistics and a 95 % confidence interval were used for the primary outcome. Our primary outcome was the randomized clinical trial quality. RESULTS: Our search found 185 original articles, of which 14 were randomized clinical trials. Only one original article (7.1%) showed good quality. There was no statistical significance between the collected data and the data shown in the hypothesis of this search. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that in the sample of assessed articles 7% of the randomized clinical trials in intensive care published in a single intensive care journal in Brazil, present good methodological quality.