ArticleTrials2016
Simple steps to develop trial follow-up procedures.
Article in Trials, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- A phase II dose evaluation pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial of cholecalciferol in critically ill children with vitamin D deficiency (VITdAL-PICU study).BMC pediatrics · 2023Trial
- The effectiveness of dry needling in patients with chronic low back pain: a prospective, randomized, single-blinded study.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Evidence and consensus-based clinical practice guideline for the management of obesity and overweight in postpartum women: An AIIMS-DST initiative.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2023Review
- Article
- Differential losses to follow-up that are outcome-dependent can vitiate a clinical trial: Simulation results.Journal of biopharmaceutical statistics · 2018Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLoss to follow-up in randomised controlled trials reduces statistical power and increases the potential for bias. Almost half of all trials fail to achieve their follow-up target. Statistical methods have been described for handling losses to follow-up and systematic reviews have identified interventions that increase follow-up. However, there is little guidance on how to develop practical follow-up procedures. This paper describes the development of follow-up procedures in a pilot randomised controlled trial of a sexual health intervention that required participants to provide and return questionnaires and chlamydia test samples in the post. We identified effective methods to increase follow-up from systematic reviews. We developed and tested prototype procedures to identify barriers to follow-up completion. We asked trial participants about their views on our follow-up procedures and revised the methods accordingly.
resultsWe identified 17 strategies to increase follow-up and employed all but five. We found that some postal test kits do not fit through letterboxes and that that the test instructions were complicated. After identifying the appropriate sized test kit and simplifying the instructions, we obtained user opinions. Users wanted kits to be sent in coloured envelopes (so that they could identify them easily), with simple instructions and questionnaires and wanted to be notified before we sent the kits. We achieved 92 % (183/200) overall follow-up for the postal questionnaire at 1 month and 82 % (163/200) at 12 months. We achieved 86 % (171/200) overall follow-up for the postal chlamydia test at 3 months and 80 % (160/200) at 12 months.
conclusionsBy using established methods to increase follow-up, testing prototype procedures and seeking user opinions, we achieved higher follow-up than previous sexual health trials. However, it is not possible to determine if the increase in response was due to our follow-up procedures.
trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN02304709 Date of registration: 27 March 2013.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.