Randomization is the key element of any sensible clinical trial. It is the only way we can be sure that the patients have been allocated into the treatment groups without bias and that the treatment groups are almost similar before the start of the trial. The randomization schemes used to allocate patients into the treatment groups play a role in achieving this goal. This study uses SAS simulations to do categorical data analysis and comparison of differences between two main randomization schemes namely unrestricted and restricted randomization in dental studies where there are small samples, i.e. simple randomization and the minimization method respectively. Results show that minimization produces almost equally sized treatment groups, but simple randomization is weak in balancing prognostic factors. Nevertheless, simple randomization can also produce balanced groups even in small samples, by chance. Statistical power is also improved when minimization is used than in simple randomization, but bigger samples might be needed to boost the power.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufh/vital:11781 |
Date | January 2011 |
Creators | Batidzirai, Jesca Mercy |
Publisher | University of Fort Hare, Faculty of Science & Agriculture |
Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Thesis, Masters, MSc (Biostatistics and Epidemiology) |
Format | 70 leaves; 30 cm, pdf |
Rights | University of Fort Hare |
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