Trials (Sep 2022)

Re-analysis on the statistical sampling biases of a mask promotion trial in Bangladesh: a statistical replication

  • Maria Chikina,
  • Wesley Pegden,
  • Benjamin Recht

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-022-06704-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 1 – 5

Abstract

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Abstract A recent randomized trial evaluated the impact of mask promotion on COVID-19-related outcomes. We find that staff behavior in both unblinded and supposedly blinded steps caused large and statistically significant imbalances in population sizes. These denominator differences constitute the rate differences observed in the trial, complicating inferences of causality.