Stratification — What It Means in Clinical Trials
Plain English Definition
Stratification is a method used during randomization to ensure that important characteristics — like age, disease stage, or prior treatments — are evenly distributed across treatment groups. This prevents a situation where, by chance, all the healthier patients end up in one group.
Why It Matters
Stratification makes the trial results more reliable. You will be classified by certain factors before randomization to ensure fair comparisons between groups.
Example
A listing might say: "Stratified by ECOG score (0 vs 1) and number of prior therapies (1 vs 2+)." This means these factors are balanced across treatment groups.
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