enrichment strategy
A clinical trial design approach that selects participants likely to respond to treatment or experience the outcome of interest.
Full Definition
An enrichment strategy is a clinical trial design methodology that involves selecting participants who are more likely to demonstrate a treatment effect or experience the primary endpoint. This approach can improve study efficiency, reduce sample size requirements, and increase the likelihood of detecting true treatment effects. Common enrichment strategies in psychiatric research include selecting treatment-responsive patients (responder enrichment), patients with specific biomarkers (prognostic enrichment), or those with particular symptom profiles (predictive enrichment). While this approach can improve internal validity, it may limit the generalizability of findings to broader patient populations.
Usage
Usage note: Distinguish from post-hoc subgroup analyses; refers to prospective selection criteria.
In Context
- "The trial used an enrichment strategy to select patients with documented antidepressant response." — Study design section
- "Biomarker-based enrichment strategies may improve the efficiency of psychiatric drug development." — Methodology discussion