Pragmatic clinical trial

Pragmatic Clinical Trial

A Pragmatic Clinical Trial (PCT) is a type of Clinical Trial that is designed to determine the effectiveness of interventions in real-world routine practice conditions. Unlike Explanatory Clinical Trials, which aim to prove if a treatment can work under ideal conditions, PCTs aim to understand if a treatment does work under usual conditions.

Overview

Pragmatic Clinical Trials are often used to compare the effectiveness of two or more treatments or interventions. They are designed to reflect routine practice by including a diverse range of participants and settings. This makes the results of PCTs more generalizable to a wider population, and more applicable to routine practice.

Design

The design of a Pragmatic Clinical Trial is often more complex than that of an Explanatory Clinical Trial. PCTs often involve multiple study sites, a diverse range of participants, and flexible study protocols. The aim is to reflect the variability of real-world practice, and to capture a broad range of patient outcomes.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The main advantage of Pragmatic Clinical Trials is their applicability to routine practice. Because they reflect real-world conditions, the results of PCTs can be used to inform healthcare policy and practice. However, the complexity and variability of PCTs can also be a disadvantage, as it can make the results more difficult to interpret.

Examples

Examples of Pragmatic Clinical Trials include the ALLHAT trial, which compared the effectiveness of different antihypertensive drugs, and the SPRINT trial, which compared two strategies for managing blood pressure in older people.

See Also

• Clinical Trial
• Explanatory Clinical Trial
• Randomized Controlled Trial
• Observational Study