Published 9 September 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3603
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3603

Endgames

Statistical question

Intention to treat analyses

Philip M Sedgwick, senior lecturer

1 St George’s Hospital, University of London, London SW17 0RE

p.sedgwick@sgul.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A randomised double blind controlled trial compared the efficacy and tolerability of fluoxetine with paroxetine in patients with major depression. Owing to adverse effects, some patients in each treatment group changed medication during the study. Treatment groups were compared using the intention to treat principle.

Which one of the following statements best describes the principle of intention to treat?

a) All patients compared received the treatment the recruiting clinician had originally intended prior to trial recruitment.
b) The two groups of patients were compared on the basis of the treatment they eventually received.
c) The two groups of patients were compared on the basis of the treatment regimen assigned at start of the trial.
d) Patients were only included in the analyses if they completed the treatment originally allocated.

c—Intention to treat analysis compares all patients on the basis of the treatment group to which they were originally randomly . . . [Full text of this article]


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