Keys Terms

Blinding—assignment to a study group without the subject or the investigator knowing the assignment

Control group—subjects in a group not receiving the
active treatment

Efficacy—the degree to which a treatment is beneficial
when implemented under the usual conditions of an investigation, usually a randomized clinical trial

Evidenced-based care—the conscientious and judicious use of current best evidence from clinical care research in the management of individual clients

In-vitro—in laboratory setting

In-vivo—on human subjects

Randomization—the unbiased assignment of subjects to treatment groups

Randomized clinical trial— a study in which a group receiving an experimental treatment is compared with a control group receiving a placebo or standard treatment

Safety—treatment or device in which potential harm is out-weighted by therapeutic benefits

Statistical significance— whether the observed outcome from one therapy is better than a comparative
therapy, and not represented by random fluctuations