Résumé :
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[BDSP. Notice produite par INIST d8waR0xh. Diffusion soumise à autorisation]. Trialists argue about the usefulness of stratified randomization. For investigators designing trials and readers who use them, the argument has created uncertainty regarding the importance of stratification. In this paper, we review stratified randomization to summarize its purpose, indications, accomplishments, and alternatives. In order to identify research papers, we performed a Medline search for 1966-1997. The search yielded 33 articles that included original research on stratification or included stratification as the major focus. Additional resources included textbooks. Stratified randomization prevents imbalance between treatment groups for known factors that influence prognosis or treatment responsiveness. As a result, stratification may prevent type I error and improve power for small trials (
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