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Proving a treatment's efficacy

 Outlook  What is the best way to demonstrate a treatment's efficacy? In other words, how do you establish a causal relationship between the treatment and a clinical improvement of sufficient value that it justifies the risk of experiencing the treatment's known, and as yet unknown, harms?
Full article (4 pages) available for free download.

Double­-blind randomised comparative clinical trials are the most robust method for providing evidence of a treatment's efficacy, especially when their results are confirmed by another trial.

However, when making healthcare decisions, it is important to be aware of their main limitations, and to also take into account the known and unknown risks, and the individual patient's treatment goals.

©Prescrire 1 June 2023

Source: "Proving a treatment's efficacy" Prescrire International 2023; 32 (249): 162-165. Subscribers only.

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