Common Misconceptions in Randomized Controlled Trials

A well-conducted randomized controlled trial(RCT) is considered the gold standard for comparing the efficacy and common adverse events of different interventions. However, for China's RCTs, there is still room for the improvement in research design, implementation, selection of effective measures, data analysis, and interpretation of results. In this article, we present six misunderstandings or errors to help clinicians in clarifying the concept of randomization, correctly implementing the process of randomization and concealment of allocation, understanding the baseline imbalance in RCTs, reasonably selecting effective measuers, and correctly interpreting the statistical significance and clinical significance in an effort to produce more RCTs of high-quality and protect clinicians from potentially misleading presentations and interpretations of research findings.