Clinical Trials in the Rheumatic Diseases

This book reviews the design, measurement, and analytic components of randomized clinical trials conducted in the rheumatic diseases and evaluates the studies on which decisions are based for treating patients. The underlying evidence for effective drug therapies is presented along with insight into the following areas: clarity of reportage of clinical trials; identification of potential sources of error and their effect on efficiency and quality of future trials. The chapters are organized according to disease and structured so as to provide basic information, methodologic considerations, description of clinical trials, and recommendations for special consideration in future trials.