Imperial College London
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Professor Chris Gale

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Professor of Neonatal Medicine
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 3315 3519christopher.gale Website

 
 
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Location

 

Academic Neonatal Medicine, H4.4,Chelsea and Westminster HospitalChelsea and Westminster Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Gale:2020:10.1159/000499881,
author = {Gale, C and McGuire, W and Juszczak, E},
doi = {10.1159/000499881},
journal = {Neonatology},
pages = {8--14},
title = {Randomised controlled trials for informing perinatal care},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000499881},
volume = {117},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomised controlled trials provide the best evidence for the effects of interventions and are a key tool in the effort to improve the care and outcomes for newborn infants. METHODS: We discuss the role of randomisation for minimising selection bias in clinical trials and describe examples of seminal trials that have shaped the development of modern perinatal care. We consider the challenges inherent in designing and delivering large, simple, and pragmatic trials, and the need for the development and adoption of core outcome sets to ensure that trials provide high-quality evidence of sufficient validity and applicability to guide policy and practice. RESULTS: Since the earliest days of modern neonatology, the randomised controlled trial has been recognised as the best method for assessing treatments and practices. While many strategies that reduce mortality and morbidity have been introduced following randomised trials, there are, however, important examples of ineffective or potentially harmful practices that have been adopted in the absence of trial-based evidence. Typically, randomised controlled trials in perinatal care need to recruit several thousand participants to be able to detect modest but potentially important effects of new interventions on the most important but rare outcomes. Given the concerns about the financial burden and regulatory complexity of standard trial designs, innovative "efficient" trial designs are being evaluated to streamline processes while safeguarding participants. CONCLUSIONS: Well-conducted randomised controlled trials provide the most robust evaluation of interventions aimed at improving outcomes for newborn infants and their families. Increasingly, these trials will need to be large and multicentre (often international) and use a simple and pragmatic protocol, incorporating meticulous follow-up procedures and assessment of long-term outcomes.
AU  - Gale,C
AU  - McGuire,W
AU  - Juszczak,E
DO  - 10.1159/000499881
EP  - 14
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 1661-7800
SP  - 8
TI  - Randomised controlled trials for informing perinatal care
T2  - Neonatology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000499881
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31137030
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/70183
VL  - 117
ER  -
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