Randomisation
In many common illnesses, the treatments that could be offered to a patient might not be very different for important outcomes such as heart attack, stroke, cancer recurrence, or death. However, these small differences might still be worth knowing about. Unfortunately, they are difficult to prove. We cannot detect them reliably by comparing patients who were given one of the treatments in one hospital or in one period of time, with patients who were treated somewhere else or at a different time. There would be too many other differences between the two groups of people (such as their ages, how ill they are, or the quality of their general care). Even if we used complicated mathematics and powerful computers, we would still not be able to correct for all the important factors in order to detect any differences that are due to the treatments, rather than other things.
The most reliable way to detect small differences in the effects of different treatments is by doing something as simple as tossing a coin to decide which patients will get one treatment and which patients will get the alternative. This is done when the patient and the person providing their health care are uncertain about which treatment to use In this way, and it means that chance alone determines which patients are in which treatment group. This is the basis of the "randomisation" process used in trials that compare different treatments, and is the principle underpinning the allocation schemes available in TENALEA. Instead of simply tossing a coin, TENALEA uses a computer. This helps ensure that the information on which of the treatments will be allocated to a patient is kept concealed until they enter the trial, thereby protecting the integrity of trial. It also helps to ensure that only those patients who are eligible for the research get entered into it and allows information that will be needed later in the trial to be captured automatically.
You can find more information about the randomisation methods available in TENALEA and details of other relevant resources by following the links on the left.