A prospective cohort and extended comprehensive-cohort design provided insights about the generalizability of a pragmatic trial: the ProtecT prostate cancer trial

Donovan, Jenny L., Young, Grace J., Walsh, Eleanor I., Metcalfe, Chris, Lane, J. Athene, Martin, Richard M., Tazewell, Marta K., Davis, Michael, Peters, Tim J., Turner, Emma L., Mills, Nicola, Khazragui, Hanan, Khera, Tarnjit K., Neal, David E., Hamdy, Freddie C., Bollina, Prasad, Catto, James, Doble, Andrew, Doherty, Alan, Gillatt, David, Gnanapragasam, Vincent, Holding, Peter, Hughes, Owen, Kockelbergh, Roger, Kynaston, Howard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1902-9930, Mason, Malcolm ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1505-2869, Oxley, Jon, Paul, Alan, Paez, Edgar, Rosario, Derek J., Rowe, Edward and Staffurth, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7834-3172 2018. A prospective cohort and extended comprehensive-cohort design provided insights about the generalizability of a pragmatic trial: the ProtecT prostate cancer trial. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 96 , pp. 35-46. 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2017.12.019

Preview

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (795kB) | Preview

Abstract

Objectives Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) deliver robust internally valid evidence but generalizability is often neglected. Design features built into the Prostate testing for cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) RCT of treatments for localized prostate cancer (PCa) provided insights into its generalizability. Study Design and Setting Population-based cluster randomization created a prospective study of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and a comprehensive-cohort study including groups choosing treatment or excluded from the RCT, as well as those randomized. Baseline information assessed selection and response during RCT conduct. Results The prospective study (82,430 PSA-tested men) represented healthy men likely to respond to a screening invitation. The extended comprehensive cohort comprised 1,643 randomized, 997 choosing treatment, and 557 excluded with advanced cancer/comorbidities. Men choosing treatment were very similar to randomized men except for having more professional/managerial occupations. Excluded men were similar to the randomized socio-demographically but different clinically, representing less healthy men with more advanced PCa. Conclusion The design features of the ProtecT RCT provided data to assess the representativeness of the prospective cohort and generalizability of the findings of the RCT. Greater attention to collecting data at the design stage of pragmatic trials would better support later judgments by clinicians/policy-makers about the generalizability of RCT findings in clinical practice.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0895-4356
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 April 2018
Date of Acceptance:	11 December 2017
Last Modified:	17 Nov 2024 09:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/110824

Citation Data

Cited 10 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item