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Although the practice frequently annoys clinicians and their patients (see this NCBI article) allocation concealment ensures that random distribution of treatments is ensured. The practice also keeps patients and the trial team unaware of upcoming assignments. In other words, a clinician might be tempted to ensure that certain patients (perhaps those in more pain) receive the “real” drug.
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Blinding in Statistics: Allocation ConcealmentĪllocation concealment is the practice of not revealing to a patient what treatment they are being allocated until they are actually enrolled in a trial, to avoid selection bias. The patients may be given a double placebo, or one placebo and one active drug of each type. In double dummy trials, there are two placebo drugs and two active drugs. For example, a combination drug for HIV treatment. The double dummy method is used when a pair of medicines is being studied. Blinding in Statistics: Double Dummy Method Blinding is less important in trials when there is a more objective criteria at stake, such as avoiding a patient’s death (for example, in cancer trials). If a patient knows they are receiving a “real” drug, they will be more likely to report pain relief than those patients receiving a placebo. For example, blinding would be used where pain relief is being studied. Why Blinding in Statistics is Importantīlinding is especially important in subjective trials to avoid skewed results. Placebos can be used for blinding in statistics.