Intention to treat and per protocol analysis in clinical trials
Giovanni Tripepi, Nicholas C Chesnaye, Friedo W. Dekker, Carmine Zoccali, Kitty J. Jager
Abstract
In clinical epidemiology, experimental studies usually take the form of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). The data analysis of an RCT can be performed by using two complementary strategies, that is according to the intention to treat (ITT) principle and the per protocol (PP) analysis. By using the ITT approach, investigators aim to assess the effect of assigning a drug whereas by adopting the PP analysis, researchers investigate the effect of receiving the assigned treatment, as specified in the protocol. Both ITT and PP analyses are essentially valid but they have different scopes and interpretations dependent on the context.
Topics & Concepts
MedicineProtocol (science)Randomized controlled trialIntention-to-treat analysisContext (archaeology)Clinical trialMedical physicsAlternative medicineSurgeryInternal medicinePathologyBiologyPaleontologyStatistical Methods in Clinical TrialsHealth Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeAdvanced Causal Inference Techniques