title: A statistical perspective on the design of drug-court studies.
abstract: Recent meta-analyses of drug-court studies recognized the poor methodological quality of the evaluations, with only a few being randomized. This article critiques the design of the randomized studies from a statistical perspective. Learning points are identified for future drug-court studies and are applicable to evaluations both of other specialist courts and of court-based interventions more generally. The specific issues covered are randomization, describing the intervention, and baseline characteristics; study outcomes, and sample size calculations; in-program and postprogram behavior, analysis plan, and presentation of results.
authors.affiliation: MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Elizabeth.merrall@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Elizabeth L C
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Merrall
authors.forename: Sheila M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bird
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003418:Criminology; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D012107:Research Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs