Less than 10 percent of the treatment recommendations U.S. doctors rely on to manage care for heart patients are based on evidence gained from multiple large, randomized clinical trials -- the gold standard for obtaining scientific data.
In fact, the proportion of well-supported recommendations for heart care has actually declined compared to 10 years ago, when an earlier analysis found a similar dearth of rigorous studies supporting treatment guidelines. The latest study, led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute, appears online March 15 in JAMA.
“In 2009, there was a call for improvement in the clinical research enterprise after that earlier study highlighted several deficiencies,” said senior author Renato Lopes, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Duke.
“But really, despite some initiatives and a greater focus on conducting randomized controlled trials, the chasm between evidence and the need for evidence has not improved,” Lopes said.
Read more at Duke University Medical Center
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