Effect of Awake Prone Positioning on Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Respiratory Failure

To the Editor In their recently published randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of awake prone positioning in patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory failure, the authors chose the primary outcome of endotracheal intubation within 30 days of randomization. I wonder about the implications of this choice because there was no provision of a standardized approach to intubation decisions and this trial was unblinded; the participants, research team, and treating clinicians all knew the group to which patients were assigned. Because blinding is used to avoid introducing bias, it is really important that the primary outcome is as resistant to bias as possible in trials that cannot be blinded.
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research