Flashcards for Experimental Studies in Health Research

These flashcards cover key concepts related to experimental studies in health research, including definitions of important terms and methodologies.

Experimental Studies

Research methods that assess causality, typically through controlled trials.

Controlled Trial

An experiment where participants are assigned to either an intervention group or a non-active control group.

Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

A study design where participants are randomly assigned to either an active intervention group or a control group.

Gold-standard

The method that provides the most rigorous test of treatment effectiveness.

Blinding

An experimental design element to prevent bias that keeps participants unaware of their group assignment.

Placebo

An inactive treatment designed to mimic the experimental treatment without the active ingredient.

Hawthorne Effect

A type of reactivity where individuals change their behavior because they are aware they are being observed.

Intervention

A strategic action intended to improve health status.

Efficacy

A measure of an intervention's success calculated from the proportion of unfavorable outcomes expected under a different treatment.

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

The number of people who need to receive a treatment to prevent one unfavorable outcome.

Crossover Design

An experimental design where participants switch from one treatment to another at different times.

Randomization

The assignment of participants to treatment groups using a chance-based method to minimize bias.

Sensitivity

The true positive rate, indicating the proportion of people with a disease who test positive for it.

Specificity

The true negative rate, indicating the proportion of people without a disease who test negative.

Positive Predictive Value (PPV)

The proportion of positive test results that are true positives.

Negative Predictive Value (NPV)

The proportion of negative test results that are true negatives.

Ethical Considerations

Factors that must be considered in experimental studies to protect participant welfare.

Equipoise

A condition that requires genuine uncertainty about which treatment will work better before conducting research.

Effect Size

A quantitative measure of the magnitude of a treatment effect.

Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve

A graphical representation used to assess the accuracy of a diagnostic test.

Adverse Reaction

A negative side effect resulting from medication or treatment.

Before-and-after Study

A non-randomized study that measures outcomes before and after an intervention in the same individuals.