Thompson Research Consulting LLC, Chicago, IL 60601, USA.
Int J Eat Disord. 2012 Jul;45(5):670-6. doi: 10.1002/eat.22009. Epub 2012 Mar 12.
An important question in implementation/dissemination research is whether the efficacy of a given treatment varies in part based on the therapist delivering the treatment. This study sought to provide practical guidance to researchers in the field of eating disorders for building measurement of therapist effects into the design of a typical, relatively small randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Using assumptions based on past trials of eating disorder treatments, Monte Carlo simulations were used to examine 12 different scenarios based on crossing the number of therapists (between two and five) and the estimated therapist effect size (small, medium, and large). Patient sample size and study design were held constant.
There was reasonable power (≥70%) to detect the therapist effect with three or four therapists and a large effect size.
Several practical implications for testing therapist effects in RCT are discussed.
在实施/传播研究中，一个重要的问题是，给定治疗的疗效是否部分取决于提供治疗的治疗师。本研究旨在为饮食障碍领域的研究人员提供实用指导，以便在典型的、相对较小的随机对照试验 (RCT) 的设计中纳入治疗师效应的测量。
使用基于过去饮食障碍治疗试验的假设，通过蒙特卡罗模拟，根据治疗师数量（2 到 5 个）和估计的治疗师效应大小（小、中、大）交叉，检查了 12 种不同的情况。患者样本量和研究设计保持不变。
对于具有三或四个治疗师和较大效应量的治疗师效应，具有合理的功效（≥70%）。
讨论了在 RCT 中检验治疗师效应的几个实际意义。
