Aggregated N-of-1 Trials

Abstract

The original purpose of N-of-1 trials is to determine whether a treatment works in a person. However, these trials can be considered as mini-randomized controlled trials (RCTs), with the person providing multiple datasets to the intervention and control groups. Therefore, several people undergoing the same N-of-1 trial can contribute many data sets and this rapidly scales up to the point where the power of the trial can equate to a normal RCT, but with far fewer participants. This characteristic means that RCT-level evidence can be derived from populations that are almost impossible to gather data from, because of low prevalence conditions, or difficulty in recruiting or retaining subjects. This chapter describes the method in detail, along with methodological challenges and limitations of the method. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)