Evaluating interventions: experimental study designs in health promotion
Evaluating interventions: experimental study designs in health promotion
An experimental study is the standard method for evaluating the effectiveness of a health or medical intervention. In such a study, a group of people will be exposed to an intervention and then compared with another group (a control group) who have not been exposed, or with a group who had a different intervention. There are situations in which an experimental approach may not be feasible, ethical, or practical, but, when possible, well-designed controlled experiments provide reliable evidence on the effectiveness of interventions and inform the policies and practice of health promotion. This chapter discusses different experimental designs, explores their strengths and weaknesses, and determines how the most appropriate design might be chosen in light of the many unique features of health promotion interventions. It shows that well-conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a valid and important way of evaluating health promotion interventions.
Keywords: health promotion, experimental designs, health intervention, randomized controlled trials
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