Our viewpoint "Preserving equipoise and performing randomized trials for COVID-19 social distancing interventions" with @NaudetFlorian and John Ioannidis @METRICStanford now in press @EpiPsychSci @CambridgeCore
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
In this viewpoint we make two main arguments. 1. There is equipoise for non-pharmacological interventions (NPI) for #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 containment because there is uncertainty re: the magnitude of both effectiveness & harms. Uncertainty is vast for some measures.
2. An agenda of randomized controlled trials of NPIs is both possible & feasible. We delineate measures that could be the focus on RCTs, along w/ issues related to designs, comparators (not advocating doing nothing!), outcomes (type, timing), obstacles & counterarguments to RCTs.
#Equipoise has been a critical problem in our approach to the #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #coronavirus pandemic from the beginning, delineated early on in this @rwyeh @bmj_latest blog:
blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/04/07…
blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/04/07…
For NPIs in particular, when the #Covid_19 #SARSCoV2 hit, there was almost no evidence from RCTs.
"The fact that high-quality data on these measures is lacking and needs to be gathered with urgency has received little attention in communication with the general public."
"The fact that high-quality data on these measures is lacking and needs to be gathered with urgency has received little attention in communication with the general public."
Our viewpoint adds to the minuscule pool of comments that argue for RCTs for NPIs:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/… @JAMA_current
science.sciencemag.org/content/368/64… @ScienceMagazine (@jhaushofer @CJEMetcalf
bmj.com/content/370/bm… @bmj_latest @memccarthy3
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/… @JAMA_current
science.sciencemag.org/content/368/64… @ScienceMagazine (@jhaushofer @CJEMetcalf
bmj.com/content/370/bm… @bmj_latest @memccarthy3
"Education of both scientists and the general public about the need of preserving and communicating #equipoise is crucial. Particularly given the speed with which information is shared on social media, researchers need to understand the importance in communicating uncertainty."
I won't get into details re: the peer-review process because I would like any potential discussion to focus on content. Suffice to say it ranged from very useful/thoughtful to the absolute worst (content, tone) I've received in my entire (relatively short) career.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
