From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
Standard treatment (Active
Control). The treatment that is
normally provided to people with a
given condition. In many studies,
a
control group receives the
standard treatment while a
treatment group receives the
experimental treatment. After the
clinical trial, researchers
compare the outcomes of the two
groups to see if the experimental
treatment is better than, as good
as or not as beneficial as the
standard treatment.
Active (Positive) Concurrent
Control
In an active control (or
positive control) trial, subjects
are randomly assigned to the test
treatment or to an active control
treatment. Such
clinical trial s are usually
double-blind, but this is not
always possible; many oncology
trials, for example, are
considered difficult or impossible
to blind because of different
regimens, different routes of
administration, and different
toxicities. Active control trials
can have two distinct objectives
with respect to showing efficacy:
(1) to show efficacy of the test
treatment by showing it is as good
as a known effective treatment or
(2) to show efficacy by showing
superiority of the test treatment
to the active control. They may
also be used with the primary
objective of comparing the
efficacy and/or safety of the two
treatments . Whether the purpose
of the trial is to show efficacy
of the new treatment or to compare
two treatments, the question of
whether the trial would be capable
of distinguishing effective from
less effective or ineffective
treatments is critical .
