Theme
Producing evidence for the efficacy and safety of lifestyle interventions for the prevention and treatment of (chronic) disease: the way forward.
Context
Evidential support for the effectiveness of healthcare interventions can be sourced from a range of alternative research studies in addition to Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT). However, in the context of lifestyle interventions, the application of orthodox randomizing and blinding controls is problematic, leading to the attenuation of the fundamental principle of precision innately pivotal to RCTs. Moreover, the complexity of lifestyle interventions, both in terms of their inevitable multiplicity of components as well as their wide variety of biological effects, precludes interpretation of data in accordance with the strict criteria applied to the results of pharma trials. Additionally, the stringent selection criteria axiomatic to participation in RCTs reduces the representativity of patients within a broader clinical context. Finally, the outcomes that people care about when making lifestyle choices differ and vary considerably more than the outcomes of greatest importance in traditional RCTs for disease management. To make fully informed decisions on appropriate interventions, medical professionals need to adopt an inclusive approach, harnessing the power of (real-world) evidence within a collaborative and holistic context.
Goal of the summit: Define methods to collect and analyze data to provide reliable substantiation of efficacy and safety of lifestyle interventions, and summarize these in a consensus paper.
Invitees
A small group of (inter)national experts in the area of scientific methods of evidence based medicine.
Sponsors
Foundation Voeding Leeft and Noaber Foundation.