Stereotyping in Drug and Alcohol Clinical Trials
Author Information
Author(s): Arndt Stephan
Primary Institution: University of Iowa
Hypothesis
How do clinical trials in addiction research treat missing data?
Conclusion
Many studies incorrectly assume that clients who drop out of treatment have relapsed, which can introduce bias and perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Supporting Evidence
- 32.4% of the reviewed studies used static imputation to fill in missing data.
- Only 20.6% of articles indicated the use of more appropriate statistical treatments for missing data.
- Many studies lack a statistical rationale for assuming dropouts have relapsed.
Takeaway
When people drop out of addiction studies, researchers often guess they relapsed, which isn't always true and can lead to wrong conclusions.
Methodology
An informal review of 34 clinical trial reports from four prominent journals was conducted to assess how missing data were handled.
Potential Biases
Assuming dropouts have relapsed introduces bias and supports negative stereotypes.
Limitations
The review was informal and may not represent all clinical trials in substance abuse research.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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