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Inclusion of patients in clinical trial analysis: the intention-to-treat principle

Stephane R Heritier, Val J Gebski and Anthony C Keech
Med J Aust 2003; 179 (8): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05627.x
Published online: 20 October 2003

Determining the sample of participants to be analysed is a crucial step in reporting clinical trials. For such analyses, the gold standard is the “intention-to-treat” principle. The question of which participants are included in the analysis appears as Item 16 of the CONSORT statement (Box 1).1


  • NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW.


Correspondence: 

Competing interests:

None identified.

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