Blinding

Blinding is an essential component of randomized control trials to reduce bias and increase the validity of the outcomes. It hides treatment information for patients, physicians, data analysts, and other personnel involved in the trial.

Randomized control trials use a placebo to achieve blinding. The placebo effect is a psychological phenomenon where an untreated subject may falsely believe that they have received the actual treatment and report improved symptoms. So, to reduce this bias, a placebo or a dummy treatment is given along with the test treatment.

In clinical trials, single, double, and triple blinding are commonly used.

In single-blind techniques, patients don't know whether they have received a placebo or the actual treatment.

Double-blind research hides the treatment information from both - the patient and the physician. As a result, there will be no false information from patients or physicians who might be in favor of the treatment and report biased observations.

A triple-blind study hides treatment information from patients, physicians, and data analysts.