Randomized trials in single subjects: the N of 1 study.

Large-scale randomized trials are not available for all disorders, and conventional "trials of therapy" are susceptible to bias. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in individual patients (N of 1 RCTs) may provide a solution. In an N of 1 RCT, a patient receives treatments in pairs (one period of the experimental therapy and one period of either an alternative treatment or placebo, in random order), both patient and clinician are kept blind to …