ArticleTrials2018
New guidance to improve sample size calculations for trials: eliciting the target difference.
Article in Trials, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Colchicine for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Sample size, sample size planning, and the impact of study context: systematic review and recommendations by the example of psychological depression treatment.Psychological medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Polyphenol-rich sugarcane extract reduces circulatingFrontiers in nutrition · 2026Trial
- Feasibility and effectiveness of WhatsApp online group on breastfeeding by peer counsellors: a single-blinded, open-label pilot randomized controlled study.International breastfeeding journal · 2022Trial
- Feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of an innovative postnatal home-based breastfeeding peer support programme in Hong Kong: a feasibility and pilot randomised controlled trial.International breastfeeding journal · 2021Trial
- Prolonged sitting in office environments: A scoping review of assessment methods.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Protocol Development for Investigator-Sponsored Clinical Studies.Clinical and translational science · 2025Article
- Bioavailability as Proof to Authorize the Clinical Testing of Neurodegenerative Drugs-Protocols and Advice for the FDA to Meet the ALS Act Vision.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Motivational Interviewing as an Intervention to Improve Antiretroviral Treatment Initiation Among People who Inject Drugs (PWID): A Pilot Study in Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia.Current drug research reviews · 2024Article
- Feasibility and Acceptability of an Online WhatsApp Support Group on Breastfeeding: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- The Adaptive designs CONSORT Extension (ACE) statement: a checklist with explanation and elaboration guideline for reporting randomised trials that use an adaptive design.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2020Article
- Article
- Clinical Utility of Advanced Microbiology Testing Tools.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSample size calculations are central to the design of health research trials. To ensure that the trial provides good evidence to answer the trial's research question, the target effect size (difference in means or proportions, odds ratio, relative risk or hazard ratio between trial arms) must be specified under the conventional approach to determining the sample size. However, until now, there has not been comprehensive guidance on how to specify this effect. MAIN TEXT: This is a commentary on a collection of papers from two important projects, DELTA (Difference ELicitation in TriAls) and DELTA
conclusionsThe DELTA researchers have developed a set of comprehensive guidance documents that are welcome and will almost certainly improve the way that trials are designed and reported.
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.