Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: In almost all controlled trials treatments are allocated by randomisation. Blocking and stratification can be used to ensure balance between groups in size and patient characteristics. But stratified randomisation using several variables is not effective in small trials. The only widely acceptable alternative approach is minimisation, a method of ensuring excellent balance between groups for several prognostic factors, even in small samples. With minimisation the treatment allocated to the next participant enrolled in the trial depends (wholly or partly) on the characteristics of those participants already enrolled. The aim is that each allocation should minimise the imbalance across multiple factors.
Source: BMJ
Authors: Douglas G Altman, J Martin Bland
Institutions: Cancer Research UK, University of York
Language: English
Subfield: Statistics and Probability
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2122588058