stopping rules

stopping rules

in randomized controlled trials and other systematic experiments on human subjects, rules laid down in advance that specify conditions under which the experiment will be terminated, for example, unequivocal demonstration that one regimen in a randomized controlled trial is clearly superior to the other, or that one is clearly harmful.

stopping rules

A clinical trials term for statistical criteria which, when met by accumulating data, indicate that the trial should be stopped early to avoid putting participants at risk unnecessarily or because the intervention’s benefit is so great that further data collection is unnecessary.

stop·ping rules

(stop'ing rūlz) In randomized controlled trials and other systematic experiments on human subjects, regulations set out in advance that specify conditions under which the experiment will be terminated, e.g., unequivocal demonstration that one regimen in a randomized controlled trial is clearly superior to the other, or that one is clearly harmful.