In 1973 a mental health practitioner would have to read 3 research papers per day to stay up to date on the latest high quality research. By 2013 that number rose to 249 papers per day.
André Tomlin, The Mental Elf
How standard is standard care? Exploring control group outcomes in behaviour change interventions for young people with type 1 diabetes
Objective Poor descriptions of standard care may compromise interpretation of results in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of health interventions. We investigated quality of standard care in RCTs of behaviour change interventions for young people with type 1 diabetes and consider implications for evaluating trial outcomes. Design We conducted systematic searches for articles published between 1999 and 2012. We extracted standard care descriptions and contacted trial authors to complete a checklist of standard care activities. The relationship between standard care quality and outcomes was examined via subgroup meta-analyses and meta-regression. Results We identified 20 RCTs described across 26 articles. Published descriptions of standard care were limited to service-level features. Author responses indicated standard care provision extended beyond published accounts. Subgroup analyses suggested control groups receiving higher standard care quality showed larger improvements in both medical and psychological outcomes, although standard care quality did not predict outcomes significantly.
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