What does "randomised" mean?

People taking part in the FOCUS trial will be randomised to one of five different treatment plans. `Randomised’ means that a computer will be used in the trial office to put people into one of the five treatment groups, rather than the doctor choosing.

Neither you nor your doctor can choose which group you will be in. This is because it has been shown that if doctors or patients are able to select the treatment each patient receives the trial results become unreliable. Randomisation provides the best way of accurately looking at the advantages and disadvantages of different treatments. It means that each group of patients has the same mix of ages, sex and state of health.

If you feel that you would definitely want to have one of the treatment plans or would wish to avoid one of them, you should discuss it with your doctor. But if you decide to have a particular treatment this would mean that you are no longer able to join the FOCUS trial.

Only if you are completely happy for the treatment plan to be chosen at random should you agree to take part in the trial.