HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Francis, N A Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Francis, N A

Single subject trials in primary care

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr N Francis
Department of General Practice, Health Centre, Llanederyn, Cardiff CF23 9PN, UK; francisna@cardiff.ac.uk

Keywords: single subject; evidence based practice

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

From a GP’s perspective, the accompanying article by Janine Janosky on the single subject design is both interesting and stimulating.¹ This type of design, as Dr Janosky highlights, is infrequently used in research and has some potential advantages. Most notably, it is the only type of design that can provide information about effects at an individual level. There are obvious benefits in formalising what all GPs do on a day to day basis, namely observing the effects of individual treatments on individual patients. However, the article suggests a scope and potential for the n = 1 trial that I would take issue with, and the author fails to adequately describe the limits and disadvantages of this type of design.

While single subject designs have the potential of examining effects at an individual level, they do not provide data that can readily be applied to others. The author . . . [Full text of this article]