EDITORIAL
RCTs and asthma
Applying the results of randomised control trials on asthma
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor I Town
University of Canterbury, PB 4800, Christchurch 8001, New Zealand; ian.town@canterbury.ac.nz
Guidelines for management of common medical conditions are just guidelines—to be used and interpreted by health practitioners
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
An important article by Peter Rothwell1 published in the Lancet in 2005 eloquently summarised issues concerning the external validity of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The issue underlying the question "to whom do the results of this trial apply?" is sometimes referred to as generalisability and reporting on this is now a standard requirement for articles published by many journals directed at a general audience.
Rothwell summarises several factors that must be taken into account when considering generalisability, including the trial setting, patient selection, the characteristics of the patients randomised, the type of outcome measures employed, the nature and duration of follow-up, and the completeness of adverse event reporting. Further, differences between the trial protocol and routine local practice must be taken into account, especially the possibility, given the likely time elapsed between the trial design and reporting, that considerable therapeutic or diagnostic advances have occurred in the
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