Double Blind Studies & Advantages

Participating in a double-blind study can be a difficult decision as a patient because it is not known if an actual treatment is being administered. However, the advantages of a double-blind study make it a worthwhile experiment because it exposes any potential placebo effect.

Definition of a Double-Blind Study

• A double-blind study is when the patient, doctors and data analysts are not aware of who is receiving treatment and who is receiving a placebo.

What Is a Placebo?

• A placebo is a control treatment that is not expected to be beneficial to the patient. One common example of a placebo is a sugar pill.

What Is the Placebo Effect?

• Sometimes, patients experience an improvement in their symptoms, even if they are not being given anything that has known medical benefits. This is known as the placebo effect.

Advantages of a Double-Blind Study

• The main advantage to a double-blind study is that there is more confidence that any differences between the treatment and the placebo are real, since the perceptions of the doctors, patients and data analysts do not factor into the results.

Benefits to a Double-Blind Study

• A double-blind study is an unbiased experiment which gives an accurate idea of the benefits of a drug. This is especially important when considering drug treatments that may have side effects or be otherwise detrimental to the patient.