Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Medical Trials

ISBN-13: 9789400988835 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 215 str.

J. W. Weiner

Opis

Clinical research represents an integration of many procedures from the social, biological, and natural sciences. Critical examination of the spectrum of medical inquiries will reveal the full gamut of research activities. Under standing the processes involved in the integration of these investigative and cognitive functions may lead to further advances in creative behavior. The purpose of this book is to formalize this process by identifying, collecting, and organizing the elements and issues involved. During the past thirty years, there have been significant advances in research methodology, many of them stimulated by multi-disciplinary collabo ration. The anticipated barriers to communication were not realized in prac tice. Scientists engaged in mutual problem-solving could accomplish more than their colleagues working in relative isolation. In the, r productive fashion, these multi-disciplinary teams, by pooling their knowledge sets and by devel oping communication mechanisms, created the interfaces between the clini cal, analytical, and communication sciences. These interfaces, while neither complete nor perfect, represent the methodology of interest in accomplishing the capture, evaluation, and utilization of information, or Information Process ing. The list of contributors to this methodology is virtually endless and we acknowledge their enormous and significant efforts."

Spis treści

1 Research and Data.- Training Clinical Specialists.- Consultative Support.- The Patient Management Protocol.- Issues in Data Management.- Integrating Clinical Research and Patient and Data Management.- 2 Patient Management and Decision Models.- Logic and Logical Operations.- Constrained Logical Basis.- Symptom-Diagnosis Tables.- Probability Tables.- Decision Trees.- Summary.- 3 Historical and Current Guidelines for Medical Trials.- Notes on Planning and Evaluation of Research.- Experimental Design of Clinical Trials.- Design and Analysis of Random Clinical Trials.- Protocol Development.- Summary.- 4 Research Planning.- Identification.- Translation to Measurements.- New Hypotheses.- Evaluation.- Summary.- 5 Information Processing.- Scientific Concepts and Information Processing.- Procedural Details in Providing an Information Processing Service.- Summary.- 6 Analysis of Functions.- Functions and Behavior.- Functional Analysis and Physical Examination.- Functional Analysis in Clinical Studies.- Functional Analysis and Scientific Method.- Summary.- 7 Allocation and Monitoring.- Allocation.- Monitoring Conduct and Performance.- Summary.- 8 Multi-Institutional and Multi-Disciplinary Research.- Organizational Structure.- Descriptions of the Study.- Feasibility Analyses.- Summary.- References.