Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials. Concepts and Methodologies

First published in 1986, this unique reference to clinical experimentation remains just as relevant today. Focusing on the principles of design and analysis of studies on human subjects, this book utilizes and integrates both modern and classical designs. Coverage is limited to experimental comparisons of treatments, or in other words, clinical studies in which treatments are assigned to subjects at random.

A systematic approach to all aspects of designing and conducting clinical trials The success or failure of clinical trials hinges on hundreds of details that need to be developed, often under less than ideal conditions. Written by one of the world's leading trialists, Clinical Trials Handbook: Design and Conduct provides clinicians with a complete guide to designing, conducting, and evaluating clinical trials—teaching them how to simplify the process and avoid costly mistakes. The author draws on his extensive clinical trials experience to outline all steps employed in setting up and running clinical trials, from budgeting and fundraising to publishing the results. Along the way, practical advice is offered while also addressing a mix of logistical, ethical, psychological, behavioral, and administrative issues inherent to clinical trials. Topics of coverage include: Protocols for drug masking, controls, and treatment randomization Consent, enrollment, eligibility, and follow-up procedures Different types of sample size design and data collection and processing Working with study centers, research staff, and various committees Monitoring treatment effects and performance, and ensuring quality control Data analysis and access policies for study data and documents Clinical Trials Handbook is invaluable for practicing clinicians and trialists who would like to learn more about or improve their understanding of the design and execution of clinical trials. The book is also an excellent supplement for courses on clinical trials at the graduate level.

An essential introduction to conducting the various stages of medical device clinical trials Clinical research continues to be one of the most vital components of pharmaceutical, biostatistical, and medical studies. Design, Execution, and Management of Medical Device Clinical Trials provides a uniform methodology for conducting and managing clinical trials. Written in a style that is accessible to readers from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, this book provides an in-depth and broad overview for successfully performing clinical tasks and activities. Throughout the book, practical examples compiled from both the author's and other researchers' previous clinical trial experiences are discussed in a sequential manner as they occur in the study, starting from the development of the clinical protocol and the selection of clinical sites and ending with the completion of the final clinical study report. Next, readers are guided through the development of important clinical documents, including informed consent forms, case report forms, and study logs. A careful review of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) regulations applicable to medical devices is also featured. Additional coverage includes: Qualification and selection of investigators Study monitoring visits Definitions and reporting procedures for adverse events The use of biostatistical methodology in clinical research, including the use of biostatistics for sample size determination and study endpoints The roles and responsibilities of all members of a clinical research team The book concludes with an insightful discussion of special ethical conduct for human research and challenging issues to consider during the design of clinical studies. A glossary lists important clinical and statistical terms used in clinical research, and an extensive reference section provides additional resources for the most up-to-date literature on the topic. Design, Execution, and Management of Medical Device Clinical Trials is an excellent book for clinical research or epidemiology courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an indispensable reference for clinical research associates, clinical managers, clinical scientists, biostatisticians, pharmacologists, and any professional working in the field of clinical research who would like to better understand clinical research practices.

An essential introduction to conducting the various stages of medical device clinical trials Clinical research continues to be one of the most vital components of pharmaceutical, biostatistical, and medical studies. Design, Execution, and Management of Medical Device Clinical Trials provides a uniform methodology for conducting and managing clinical trials. Written in a style that is accessible to readers from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, this book provides an in-depth and broad overview for successfully performing clinical tasks and activities. Throughout the book, practical examples compiled from both the author's and other researchers' previous clinical trial experiences are discussed in a sequential manner as they occur in the study, starting from the development of the clinical protocol and the selection of clinical sites and ending with the completion of the final clinical study report. Next, readers are guided through the development of important clinical documents, including informed consent forms, case report forms, and study logs. A careful review of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) regulations applicable to medical devices is also featured. Additional coverage includes: Qualification and selection of investigators Study monitoring visits Definitions and reporting procedures for adverse events The use of biostatistical methodology in clinical research, including the use of biostatistics for sample size determination and study endpoints The roles and responsibilities of all members of a clinical research team The book concludes with an insightful discussion of special ethical conduct for human research and challenging issues to consider during the design of clinical studies. A glossary lists important clinical and statistical terms used in clinical research, and an extensive reference section provides additional resources for the most up-to-date literature on the topic. Design, Execution, and Management of Medical Device Clinical Trials is an excellent book for clinical research or epidemiology courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an indispensable reference for clinical research associates, clinical managers, clinical scientists, biostatisticians, pharmacologists, and any professional working in the field of clinical research who would like to better understand clinical research practices.

Clinical trials tasks and activities are widely diverse and require certain skill sets to both plan and execute. This book provides professionals in the field of clinical research with valuable information on the challenging issues of the design, execution, and management of clinical trials, and how to resolve these issues effectively. It discusses key obstacles such as challenges to patient recruitment, investigator and study site selection, and dealing with compliance issues. Through practical examples, professionals working with medical device clinical trials will discover the appropriate steps to take.

Over the last twenty years there has been a dramatic upsurge in the application of meta-analysis to medical research. This has mainly been due to greater emphasis on evidence-based medicine and the need for reliable summaries of the vast and expanding volume of clinical research. At the same time there have been great strides in the development and refinement of the associated statistical methodology. This book describes the planning, conduct and reporting of a meta-analysis as applied to a series of randomized controlled clinical trials. * The various approaches are presented within a general unified framework. * Meta-analysis techniques are described in detail, from their theoretical development through to practical implementation. * Each topic discussed is supported by detailed worked examples. * A comparison of fixed and random effects approaches is included, as well as a discussion of Bayesian methods and cumulative meta-analysis. * Fully documented programs using standard statistical procedures in SAS are available on the Web. Ideally suited for practising statisticians and statistically-minded medical professionals, the book will also be of use to graduate students of medical statistics. The book is a self-contained and comprehensive account of the subject and an essential purchase for anyone involved in clinical trials.

This newly updated edition of the benchmark guide to computer-assisted clinical trials provides a comprehensive primer for prospective managers. It covers every critical issue of the design and conduct of clinical trials, including study design, organization, regulatory agency liaison, data collection and analysis, as well as recruitment, software, monitoring, and reporting. Keeping the same user-friendly format as the original, this Second Edition features new examples and the latest developments in regulatory guidelines, such as e-submission procedures and computerized direct data acquisition. The new edition also reflects the increasing globalization of clinical trial activities, and includes new information about international standards and procedures, including the Common Technical Document and CDISC standards. This step-by-step guide is supported by handy checklists and extracts from submitted protocols. Experienced author and consultant Phillip Good incorporateshumorous yet instructive anecdotes to illustrate common pitfalls. Based on the proven industrial formula of planning, implementing, and finally performing essential checks, the book's three sections-"Plan," «Do,» and «Check»-includethe following material: * Should the trials be conducted? * Put it in the computer and keep it there * Staffing for success * Designing trials and determining sample size * Budgeting * Recruiting and retaining patients and physicians * Data management * Monitoring the trials * Data analysis * After action review * Exception handling Executive and managerial professionals involved in the design and analysis of clinical experiments, along with clinical research associates, biostatisticians, and students in public health will find A Manager's Guide an indispensable resource. Praise for the First Edition: «. . . readable, informative and at times witty . . . never stops being concise and well written . . . a book worth a read . . .» -Statistics in Medicine «The book is very prescriptive and full of lists and tables with which to guide managers in making effective decisions in using computer-assisted clinical trials in pharmaceutical studies.» -Technometrics «This book is must-have reading for anyone in the business . . .» -Clinical Chemistry

This book proposes systemic design methodologies applied to electrical energy systems, in particular analysis and system management, modeling and sizing tools. It includes 8 chapters: after an introduction to the systemic approach (history, basics & fundamental issues, index terms) for designing energy systems, this book presents two different graphical formalisms especially dedicated to multidisciplinary devices modeling, synthesis and analysis: Bond Graph and COG/EMR. Other systemic analysis approaches for quality and stability of systems, as well as for safety and robustness analysis tools are also proposed. One chapter is dedicated to energy management and another is focused on Monte Carlo algorithms for electrical systems and networks sizing. The aim of this book is to summarize design methodologies based in particular on a systemic viewpoint, by considering the system as a whole. These methods and tools are proposed by the most important French research laboratories, which have many scientific partnerships with other European and international research institutions. Scientists and engineers in the field of electrical engineering, especially teachers/researchers because of the focus on methodological issues, will find this book extremely useful, as will PhD and Masters students in this field.

A complete guide to the key statistical concepts essential for the design and construction of clinical trials As the newest major resource in the field of medical research, Methods and Applications of Statistics in Clinical Trials, Volume 1: Concepts, Principles, Trials, and Designs presents a timely and authoritative reviewof the central statistical concepts used to build clinical trials that obtain the best results. The referenceunveils modern approaches vital to understanding, creating, and evaluating data obtained throughoutthe various stages of clinical trial design and analysis. Accessible and comprehensive, the first volume in a two-part set includes newly-written articles as well as established literature from the Wiley Encyclopedia of Clinical Trials. Illustrating a variety of statistical concepts and principles such as longitudinal data, missing data, covariates, biased-coin randomization, repeated measurements, and simple randomization, the book also provides in-depth coverage of the various trial designs found within phase I-IV trials. Methods and Applications of Statistics in Clinical Trials, Volume 1: Concepts, Principles, Trials, and Designs also features: Detailed chapters on the type of trial designs, such as adaptive, crossover, group-randomized, multicenter, non-inferiority, non-randomized, open-labeled, preference, prevention, and superiority trials Over 100 contributions from leading academics, researchers, and practitioners An exploration of ongoing, cutting-edge clinical trials on early cancer and heart disease, mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus transmission trials, and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Methods and Applications of Statistics in Clinical Trials, Volume 1: Concepts, Principles, Trials, and Designs is an excellent reference for researchers, practitioners, and students in the fields of clinicaltrials, pharmaceutics, biostatistics, medical research design, biology, biomedicine, epidemiology,and public health.

State-of-the-art coverage of modern computational methods for the analysis and design of beams Analysis and Design of Elastic Beams presents computer models and applications related to thin-walled beams such as those used in mechanical and aerospace designs, where thin, lightweight structures with high strength are needed. This book will enable readers to compute the cross-sectional properties of individual beams with arbitrary cross-sectional shapes, to apply a general-purpose computer analysis of a complete structure to determine the forces and moments in the individual members, and to use a unified approach for calculating the normal and shear stresses, as well as deflections, for those members' cross sections. In addition, this book augments a solid foundation in the basic structural design theory of beams by: * Providing coverage of thin-wall structure analysis and optimization techniques * Applying computer numerical methods to classical design methods * Developing computational solutions for cross-sectional properties and stresses using finite element analyses Including access to an associated Web site with software for the analysis and design of any cross-sectional shape, Analysis and Design of Elastic Beams: Computational Methods is an essential reference for mechanical, aerospace, and civil engineers and designers working in the automotive, ship, and aerospace industries in product and process design, machine design, structural design, and design optimization, as well as students and researchers in these areas.