Fragility index for assessing the robustness of randomized controlled trials

Article type
Authors
Luo M1, Liu Z1, Huang J1, Wang Y1, Li Y1, Liu M1, Tao Y1, Cao R1, Wang Y1, Liu J1, Zhang Y1, Fei Y1, Liang C
1Beijing University Of Chinese Medicine
Abstract
After the completion of a clinical trial, its conclusion generally depends on the results of statistical analysis of the main outcome, that is, whether the P-value in the hypothesis test is less than the level α of the hypothesis test, usually α=0.05. The size of the P-value indicates the sufficient degree of reason for making the hypothesis judgment, and can be interpreted as whether a conclusion is statistically significant but does not involve the difference degree of drug effects or other effects. Fragility index, which is, the minimum number of patients required to change the occurrence of a target outcome event to a non-target outcome event from a statistically significant outcome to a non-significant outcome, can be used to assist the understanding of clinical trial statistical inference results and assist clinical decision making This paper will discuss the concept, calculation method and clinical application of the fragility index, and recommend that the fragility index be routinely reported in all future randomized controlled trials to help patient clinicians and policymakers make appropriate and optimal decisions.