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Sumathipala, A, Yelland, L, Green, D, Shepherd, T, Jayaweera, K, Ferreira, P and Craig, JM (2018) Twins as Participants in Randomized Controlled Trials: A Review of Published Literature. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 21 (1). pp. 51-56. ISSN 1839-2628
Twins is RCT paper Sumathipala et al 2017.pdf - Published Version
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Abstract
Monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins participate in research that partitions variance in health, disease, and behavior into genetic and environmental components. However, there are other innovative roles for twins in medical research. One such way is involving MZ and/or DZ twins in co-twin control-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs). To our knowledge, no reviews have been conducted that summarizes the involvement of twins in RCTs. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature search using the U.S. Clinical Trials Database, NHS electronic databases, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO for RCTs on publications involving MZ and/or DZ twins as RCT participants. Out of the 186,027 clinical trials registered in the U.S. clinical trial register ClinicaTrails.gov, only six RCTs used twins as participants. From 1,598 articles identified in our search, 50 peer-reviewed English language publications met our pre-defined inclusion criteria. Sample sizes for RCTs have ranged from a total number of participants from 2 to 1,162; however, 32 (64%) studies had a sample size of 100 or less, and of those, 12 (24%) had fewer than 10. Both MZ and DZ twins have been recruited to the RCTs. In most instances (33/50) each twin from a pair were assigned to different study arms. Most of those studies included MZ twins only. Despite the methodological advantages, the use of MZ and DZ twins as participants in interventional RCTs appeared limited. The continuous development of innovative twin designs, especially RCTs, indicates that twin research can extend beyond the more widely recognized heritability estimates.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via Cambridge University Press at https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2017.67 - please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher. |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | RCT, randomization, sample size, twin research |
Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Primary Care Health Sciences |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | Symplectic |
Date Deposited: | 08 Feb 2018 09:16 |
Last Modified: | 28 Dec 2018 01:30 |
URI: | https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/4419 |