Adaptive assignment versus balanced randomization in clinical trials: a decision analysis.
We compare balanced randomization with four adaptive treatment allocation procedures in a clinical trial involving two treatments. The objective is to treat as many patients in and out of the trial as effectively as possible. Randomization is a satisfactory solution to the decision problem when the disease in question is at least moderately common. Adaptive procedures are more difficult to use, but might play a role in clinical research when a substantial proportion of all patients with the disease are included in the trial.
Berry
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Duke University, Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Eick
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D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design