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Both Rhiannon Edwards' and Neville W Goodman's concern is already
addressed, albeit too narrowly, in instructions to authors of medical
journals, such as JAMA, which suggest:
'To avoid confusion, the term MASKED is preferred in studies in which
vision loss of patients is an outcome of interest'*
Rhiannon Edwards does not like the word 'blind' applied to clinical
trials, and she is right. She, as a partially sighted person, dislikes the
connotations of 'blind drunk'. I just think 'blind' sounds so awkward, if
not plain ridiculous: 'A blind investigator made the measurements...'
We should change our terminology, and use the word 'mask'. I know
this is entirely subjective, but isn't 'a randomised double-masked trial'
better than 'a randomised double-blind trial'?
Re: Better masked than blind
Both Rhiannon Edwards' and Neville W Goodman's concern is already
addressed, albeit too narrowly, in instructions to authors of medical
journals, such as JAMA, which suggest:
'To avoid confusion, the term MASKED is preferred in studies in which
vision loss of patients is an outcome of interest'*
*http://jama.ama-assn.org/info/auinst_term.html
Competing interests: No competing interests