title: How to design a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: Randomized controlled trials are the ideal study design to evaluate the effectiveness of health-care interventions. The conduct of a clinical trial is a collaborative effort between participants, investigators and a range of health-care professionals involved both centrally and locally in the coordination and execution of the trial. In this article, the key steps that are required to design a randomized controlled trial are summarized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Sankar D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Navaneethan
authors.forename: Suetonia C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Giovanni F M
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Strippoli
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design