Clearly, randomization is crucial to eliminate certain bias and have an accurate trial.
6. Explain how the intervention(s) in the treatment arm differed from how participants in the control arm were treated. In other words, what is the trial testing?
Participants in the treatment arm were given 12.5 milligram Zinc Sulfate, whereas the participants in the control arm were given a placebo. The trial is testing whether Zinc Sulfate is beneficial to children who have Malaria or not.
7. Was the trial single- or double-blinded or neither? Report evidence of assignment rejection or contamination. Indicate why this is an important issue.
The trial was double blinded, so neither participants nor health staff knew who was in the treatment and control group. There was no sign of contamination or assignment rejection states by the authors. Contamination occurs when the blinding in the trial is broken; however, there was no actions recorded by the authors on the double …show more content…
When the sample size of seven hundred twenty was calculated by the researchers, they gave room for a 20% loss to follow up, so they already assumed that there would be people who do not keep up with the trial. In fact, there were total of twenty eight children who could not stay in the study for different reasons. Since the loss to follow up was about 4% of the sample size, and the authors expected as high as 20%, this small loss did not significantly affect the trial. It is an important issue because it may affect the outcome of the trial. For instance, if there would be many people leaving the trial, there could be a significant difference between the treatment and the control arm of the study. And, the results would be different because the trial would lose its randomization benefits. Therefore, it is important to record the loss to follow up, and make sure that the sample is large enough in case of a high loss to follow
6. Explain how the intervention(s) in the treatment arm differed from how participants in the control arm were treated. In other words, what is the trial testing?
Participants in the treatment arm were given 12.5 milligram Zinc Sulfate, whereas the participants in the control arm were given a placebo. The trial is testing whether Zinc Sulfate is beneficial to children who have Malaria or not.
7. Was the trial single- or double-blinded or neither? Report evidence of assignment rejection or contamination. Indicate why this is an important issue.
The trial was double blinded, so neither participants nor health staff knew who was in the treatment and control group. There was no sign of contamination or assignment rejection states by the authors. Contamination occurs when the blinding in the trial is broken; however, there was no actions recorded by the authors on the double …show more content…
When the sample size of seven hundred twenty was calculated by the researchers, they gave room for a 20% loss to follow up, so they already assumed that there would be people who do not keep up with the trial. In fact, there were total of twenty eight children who could not stay in the study for different reasons. Since the loss to follow up was about 4% of the sample size, and the authors expected as high as 20%, this small loss did not significantly affect the trial. It is an important issue because it may affect the outcome of the trial. For instance, if there would be many people leaving the trial, there could be a significant difference between the treatment and the control arm of the study. And, the results would be different because the trial would lose its randomization benefits. Therefore, it is important to record the loss to follow up, and make sure that the sample is large enough in case of a high loss to follow