{
  "abstract": "Abstract Objective To compare treatment effects from trials designed as decentralised trials or as traditional non-decentralised trials.Design Meta-epidemiological study.Data source PubMed database.Eligibility criteria Trials identified as decentralised and included in meta-analyses alongside corresponding non-decentralised trials, restricted to drug interventions across all populations and outcome types.Results 51 decentralised trials and 86 non-decentralised trials regarding 11 clinical questions were compared. Decentralised trials were larger than non-decentralised trials (median sample size 1175 v 236 participants) and more recent than non-decentralised trials (median year of publication 2012 v 2007). The level of significance agreed between decentralised and non-decentralised trials in nine of 11 clinical questions (82%). No systematic difference between effects from decentralised and non-decentralised trials was found (summary ratio of odds ratio 1.01; 95% confidence interval 0.93 to 1.09; heterogeneity I2=8.6%) with a median absolute deviation of 1.3-fold (absolute ratio of odds ratio 1.30; interquartile range 1.13-1.51).Conclusion Decentralised trials provide similar answers to clinical questions as traditional, non-decentralised randomised trials. They do not systematically overestimate or underestimate effect estimates, but modest absolute deviations occur that may lead to different conclusions. Beyond direct benefits to participants, decentralisation opens new avenues for randomised trials, including the facilitation of larger trials.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland",
        "Pragmatic Evidence Lab, Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland"
      ],
      "name": "Louise Chaboud"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland",
        "Pragmatic Evidence Lab, Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland"
      ],
      "name": "Perrine Janiaud"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Pragmatic Evidence Lab, Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland",
        "Department of Health, Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, St Gallen, Switzerland",
        "Institute of Health, Midwifery and Nursing Science, Medical Faculty Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany"
      ],
      "name": "Julian Hirt"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland",
        "Pragmatic Evidence Lab, Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland",
        "Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Lars G Hemkens"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Agreement of treatment effects in decentralised trials versus traditional trials: meta-epidemiological study",
  "uid": "8cf3d7ef-09b7-5a50-befd-bb8c72690597"
}