In this week's PLoS Medicine , Ian Sinha and colleagues from the Institute of Child Health, University of Liverpool, UK, make recommendations for the development of core outcome sets for clinical trials, based upon a review of the literature. They advise that when using the Delphi process to develop core outcome sets for clinical trials, patients and clinicians should be involved, researchers and facilitators should avoid imposing their views on participants, and the attrition of participants must be minimized.
Funding: IPS was funded by the NIHR Medicines for Children Research Network Clinical Trials Unit and Co-ordinating Centre. The Medicines for Children Research Network is part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and is funded by the Department of Health. IPS was funded by Department of Health grant RNC/013/011. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: RLS is a member of the PLoS Board of Directors.
Citation: Sinha IP, Smyth RL, Williamson PR (2011) Using the Delphi Technique to Determine Which Outcomes to Measure in Clinical Trials: Recommendations for the Future Based on a Systematic Review of Existing Studies. PLoS Med 8(1): e1000393. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000393
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CONTACT:
Ian P. Sinha
Institute of Child Health
University of Liverpool
Alder Road
Liverpool, Merseyside L12 2AP
United Kingdom
(0044)1512284811
iansinha@liv.ac.uk
PLOS Medicine