Less than 10 percent of the treatment recommendations U.S. doctors rely on to manage care for heart patients are based on evidence gained from multiple large, randomized clinical trials -- the gold standard for obtaining scientific data.

Less than 10 percent of the treatment recommendations U.S. doctors rely on to manage care for heart patients are based on evidence gained from multiple large, randomized clinical trials -- the gold standard for obtaining scientific data.

In fact, the proportion of well-supported recommendations for heart care has actually declined compared to 10 years ago, when an earlier analysis found a similar dearth of rigorous studies supporting treatment guidelines. The latest study, led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute, appears online March 15 in JAMA.

“In 2009, there was a call for improvement in the clinical research enterprise after that earlier study highlighted several deficiencies,” said senior author Renato Lopes, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Duke.

“But really, despite some initiatives and a greater focus on conducting randomized controlled trials, the chasm between evidence and the need for evidence has not improved,” Lopes said.

Read more at Duke University Medical Center

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