Using Randomized Trials in Pharmacoepidemiology

Abstract

Randomized trials are used in a variety of situations by the pharmaceutical industry. Whatever the context, the methodological rigor of the trial is crucial for valid results to be obtained, and for the conclusions of the trial to be accepted. In this paper, I will review the essential components of the randomized trial, and in the process will highlight some methodological issues which may be less familiar. I will then introduce a new way randomized trials are certain to find progressively more use by the industry, and that is in the conduct of systematic overviews, or meta-analyses. Finally, I will review the situations in which randomized trials have proved, or might prove, useful to the industry.