unblinding unblinding
In a blinded study, when a participant or study staff finds out which study arm a participant was in.
Example of unblinding in a sentence
Unblinding lets participants and study staff know which study treatment each participant received.
More Info
Unblinding can apply to the study team, participants, sponsor or anyone else involved in the study.
Unblinding can happen at many different points during a study. It could happen because of an emergency, for a scheduled analysis of the data to make sure that the trial should be continued, or at the end of the study to let participants know what study treatment they received.
Sometimes unblinding may not be planned, such as when a study team member accidentally finds out what study group a participant was assigned.
Other info to think about when joining a study
If you are thinking of joining a study that involves randomization and you will not know which study treatment you will be taking, you can ask the study team if unblinding will happen at the end of the research study.
You can also ask about what the unblinding process will be if there is an urgent reason to find out what study treatment you are taking.
