Question

When is an RCT not the most appropriate or suitable research design to answer a question about intervention effectiveness?

a. When it is not ethical to randomly allocate study participants to experimental or comparison/control groups.

b. When it is not practical to conduct an RCT because the outcome is very rare and a very large number of participants would need to be enrolled in the trial.

c. When it is not feasible to conduct an RCT because the outcome may take a very long time to manifest.

d. All of the above

Answer 1

ANSWER :

Option d - All of the above

Explanation :

• The safety of participants is considered and it is unethical to subject participants to undue risk. So, when it is not ethical to randomly allocate study participants to experimental or comparision or control group , RCT is not the appropriate study design.
• The practicality of the study should be understood and not be blind sided by the proponents of randomised control trials
• RCT are not suitable for investigating the etiology and natural history of the disease
• This study is not appropriate , where the outcome is very rare or takes very long time to manifest