Full Description
Before new interventions are released into disease control programmes, it is essential that they are carefully evaluated in "field trials". These may be complex and expensive undertakings, requiring the follow-up of hundreds, or thousands, of individuals, often for long periods. Descriptions of the detailed procedures and methods used in the trials that have been conducted have rarely been published. A consequence of this is that those planning such trials have few guidelines available and little access to knowledge accumulated previously, other than their own. In this manual practical issues in trial design and conduct are discussed in detail, so that it may be used as a "toolbox" by field investigators. It has been compiled by a group of people with direct experience in the design, conduct and analysis of field trials, and is based on their accumulated experience.
Contents
Types of intervention and their development; study design; study size; ethical considerations; community involvement; censuses and mapping; randomization and coding; outcome measures and case definition; questionnaires; social research methods; field organization; field laboratory methods; data processing; methods of analysis; dissemination of results.
