Measuring the success of blinding in placebo-controlled trials: Should we be so quick to dismiss it?

R.K. Webster; F. Bishop; G.S. Collins; A.W.M. Evers; T. Hoffmann; J.A. Knottnerus; S.E. Lamb; H. Macdonald; C. Madigan; V. Napadow; A. Price; J.L. Rees; J. Howick

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.02.022

Measuring the success of blinding in placebo-controlled trials: Should we be so quick to dismiss it?

R.K. Webster^*, F. Bishop, G.S. Collins, A.W.M. Evers, T. Hoffmann, J.A. Knottnerus, S.E. Lamb, H. Macdonald, C. Madigan, V. Napadow, A. Price, J.L. Rees, J. Howick

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

'Blinding' involves concealing knowledge of which trial participants received the interventions from participants themselves and other trial personnel throughout the trial. Blinding reduces bias arising from the beliefs and expectations of these groups. It is agreed that where possible, blinding should be attempted, for example by ensuring that experimental and control treatments look the same. However, there is a debate about if we should measure whether blinding has been successful, this manuscript will discuss this controversy, including the benefits and risks of measuring blinding within the randomised controlled trial. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	176-181
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume	135
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.02.022
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2021

Keywords

Blinding
Masking
Trials
Measuring
Reporting guidelines
RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIALS
OBSERVER BIAS
COMMON COLD
BLINDNESS
OUTCOMES

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Cite this

Webster, R. K., Bishop, F., Collins, G. S., Evers, A. W. M., Hoffmann, T., Knottnerus, J. A., Lamb, S. E., Macdonald, H., Madigan, C., Napadow, V., Price, A., Rees, J. L., & Howick, J. (2021). Measuring the success of blinding in placebo-controlled trials: Should we be so quick to dismiss it? Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 135, 176-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.02.022

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title = "Measuring the success of blinding in placebo-controlled trials: Should we be so quick to dismiss it?",

abstract = "'Blinding' involves concealing knowledge of which trial participants received the interventions from participants themselves and other trial personnel throughout the trial. Blinding reduces bias arising from the beliefs and expectations of these groups. It is agreed that where possible, blinding should be attempted, for example by ensuring that experimental and control treatments look the same. However, there is a debate about if we should measure whether blinding has been successful, this manuscript will discuss this controversy, including the benefits and risks of measuring blinding within the randomised controlled trial. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.",

keywords = "Blinding, Masking, Trials, Measuring, Reporting guidelines, RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIALS, OBSERVER BIAS, COMMON COLD, BLINDNESS, OUTCOMES",

author = "R.K. Webster and F. Bishop and G.S. Collins and A.W.M. Evers and T. Hoffmann and J.A. Knottnerus and S.E. Lamb and H. Macdonald and C. Madigan and V. Napadow and A. Price and J.L. Rees and J. Howick",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

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doi = "10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.02.022",

language = "English",

volume = "135",

pages = "176--181",

journal = "Journal of Clinical Epidemiology",

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