Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

[Clinical trials: principles of the method].

¹INSERM SC10, Villejuif. jp.aboulker@vjf.inserm.fr

La Revue Du Praticien

|June 30, 2000

Summary

Clinical reasoning has evolved over centuries, leading to the development of controlled studies and, by the 1940s, randomized clinical trials. Modern trials remain prospective, controlled, and randomized to ensure reliable therapeutic inferences.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Archived HIV-1 DNA resistance mutations to rilpivirine and etravirine in successfully treated HIV-1-infected individuals pre-exposed to efavirenz or nevirapine.

The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy·2014

Same author

Anti-HBV DNA vaccination does not prevent relapse after discontinuation of analogues in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B: a randomised trial--ANRS HB02 VAC-ADN.

Gut·2014

Same author

Comparison of resistance mutation patterns in historical plasma HIV RNA genotypes with those in current proviral HIV DNA genotypes among extensively treated patients with suppressed replication.

HIV medicine·2012

Same author

Gag mutations can impact virological response to dual-boosted protease inhibitor combinations in antiretroviral-naïve HIV-infected patients.

Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy·2010

Same author

Discordance between CD4 cell count and CD4 cell percentage: implications for when to start antiretroviral therapy in HIV-1 infected children.

AIDS (London, England)·2010

Same author

Virological and immunological outcomes at 3 years after starting antiretroviral therapy with regimens containing non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, protease inhibitor, or both in INITIO: open-label randomised trial.

Lancet (London, England)·2006

Area of Science:

Medical Research Methodology
Clinical Epidemiology
Evidence-Based Medicine

Context:

The historical application of comparative judgment in scientific measurement and clinical reasoning.
The 19th-century drive to systematize medical observation for reliable therapeutic inference.
The evolution from early controlled studies to the formalization of clinical trials.

Purpose:

To trace the historical development and methodological advancements in clinical trials.
To highlight the integration of statistical theories into clinical research design.
To underscore the foundational principles of modern clinical trial methodology.

Summary:

Comparative judgment, fundamental to science, has been applied to clinical reasoning for centuries.
The 19th century saw efforts to systematize medical observations, leading to controlled studies.
By the 1940s, clinical trials adopted Fisher's statistical theories, becoming a 'hard science' for causal inference, and remain primarily controlled, randomized, prospective studies today.

Impact:

Established clinical trials as a rigorous methodology for causal inference in therapy.
Enabled significant advances in clinical and therapeutic knowledge through systematic investigation.
Continues to shape modern medical research by emphasizing bias limitation and statistical significance.

Related Experiment Videos