NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination) Practice Exam 2025 - Free NAPLEX Practice Questions and Study Guide

Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis is the correct answer because it includes data for all patients who were originally allocated to each treatment group, regardless of whether or not they received the intended treatment or completed the study according to the protocol. ITT analysis is important in clinical trials as it maintains the benefits of randomization, preserves prognostic balance, and provides a more conservative estimate of treatment effect compared to other analysis methods.

Per protocol analysis (choice A) includes only data from patients who completed the study per protocol, potentially introducing bias if there are substantial dropouts or non-compliance with the assigned treatment. Linear regression analysis (choice C) and ANOVA (choice D) are statistical methods used for analyzing relationships between variables or comparing means between groups, but they do not specifically address the issue of maintaining the integrity of the original treatment assignments like ITT analysis does.