Adaptive Trial Designs for the Development of Treatment Parameters

Developed and presented by Sharon Yeatts at the ASHA 2013 Convention.

Video created for the ASHA #CREdLibrary

Adaptive designs are often used in drug trials to determine the optimum dose to study, in terms of safety and efficacy, before initiating a clinical trial. While scientists in communication sciences and disorders don't often face concerns about dose toxicity, they do face real constraints on dose tolerability (e.g., including patient fatigue or availability).

CSD scientists can learn from and use these adaptive designs to optimize a treatment regimen (e.g., in terms of session length, number of sessions, or other parameters) in the exploratory stages of their research, potentially avoiding costly, lengthy random controlled trials that test less-effective therapy regimens.