Alcohol Dependence To determine if topiramate is a safe and effective treatment for alcohol dependence, researchers conducted a 14-week trial of 371 men and women aged 18 to 65 years diagnosed with alcohol dependence. In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled experiment, subjects were randomly given either 300 milligrams (mg) of topiramate (183 subjects) or a placebo (188 subjects) daily, along with a weekly compliance enhancement intervention. The variable used to determine the effectiveness of the treatment was self-reported percentage of heavy drinking days. Results indicated that topiramate was more effective than placebo at reducing the percentage of heavy drinking days. The researchers concluded that topiramate is a promising treatment for alcohol dependence.
Source: Bankole A. Johnson, Norman Rosenthal, et al. “Topiramate for Treating Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 298(14): 1641–1651, 2007
- a. What does it mean for the experiment to be placebo-controlled?
- b. What does it mean for the experiment to be double-blind? Why do you think it is necessary for the experiment to be double-blind?
- c. What does it mean for the experiment to be randomized?
- d. What is the population for which this study applies? What is the sample?
- e. What are the treatments?
- f. What is the response variable?
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