Burke J P
Am J Infect Control. 1983 Oct;11(5):165-73. doi: 10.1016/0196-6553(83)90076-7.
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are useful in the evaluation of both new and well-established hospital infection control practices for which the benefit is unproven and not obvious. RCTs are often undertaken to resolve controversies, and many of them have a "negative" or inconclusive outcome. Well-designed RCTs with a negative outcome have the potential for reducing health care costs by identifying widely used preventive measures that are not cost effective. ICPs should appreciate that RCTs have important limitations, may contain serious flaws in design, and are subject to exploitation by pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturers. Knowledge of the principles of RCTs can lead to improved scientific standards for all research--nonrandomized as well as randomized--in hospital epidemiology.
随机对照试验（RCTs）对于评估新的和已确立的医院感染控制措施很有用，这些措施的益处尚未得到证实且不明显。开展随机对照试验通常是为了解决争议，其中许多试验会得出“阴性”或不确定的结果。设计良好但结果为阴性的随机对照试验有可能通过识别那些不具有成本效益的广泛使用的预防措施来降低医疗成本。感染控制人员应该认识到随机对照试验有重要局限性，可能在设计上存在严重缺陷，并且容易被制药和设备制造商利用。了解随机对照试验的原则可以提高医院流行病学中所有研究（非随机研究和随机研究）的科学标准。
