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Glossary Term

Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

Study Design

Also known as: RCT, randomized clinical trial, randomised controlled trial

A study design in which participants are randomly assigned to an intervention or control arm to evaluate efficacy or effectiveness.

RCTs are the gold standard for establishing causal effects of interventions. Random allocation balances known and unknown confounders across arms, and blinding (single, double, or triple) reduces measurement bias.

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