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Question
9.1
A randomized trial
to evaluate different types of occlusal splints was proposed,
and, initially, the investigators did not design any blinding
of either the subjects or the observers. A conference of TMD clinicians
and clinical trial specialists got together and proposed some
blinding options for this study.
Which of the following
blinding methods do you think they chose for this study?
 The
patient is given either a maxillary occlusal splint that covers
the teeth, or one that covers the palate without the teeth.
The observer and clinician are aware of the type of splint
each subject has, and of the study hypotheses. The clinician
tells the patient that they believe the occlusal splint will
decrease the pain more than the palatal types. |
 The
patient is given one of these splints, and the observer and
clinician are aware of the patient's treatment group. The
patient is told that neither splint is known to be superior
to the other. |
 The
patient is not told which splint type may be favored, and
the observer/examiner is also not aware of the splint type
that the patient is given. The clinician, however, is aware
of the treatment assignment. |
 The
patient is not told which splint type may be favored, and
the observer is also not aware. The main treating clinician
is also not aware of the type of splint used with each patient,
and only a second clinician, who is only in charge of the
splint adjustment, is privy to this information. |
 All
the conditions are the same as #4, although now the statistician
who is analyzing the data is not aware of the treatment assignment
of the study subjects for the initial analyses. |
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