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document
Children with autistic spectrum disorders . II : parents are unable to distinguish secretin from placebo under double-blind conditions . BACKGROUND Standardised measures of behaviour have failed to detect short term improvement in children with autism following treatment with secretin . However , it is possible that standardised measures are insensitive to dimensions of child behaviour that are nonetheless detectable by parents . AIM To determine the ability of parents of children with autism to guess , under double blind conditions , whether their child had received secretin or placebo . METHODS 2x2 crossover randomised blinded study , comparing the effect of synthetic human secretin 2 U/kg to placebo ( saline ) . Sixty two children with autism ( aged 43-103 months ) were randomly allocated to two groups : group 1 received placebo , followed six weeks later by secretin , and group 2 received secretin followed by placebo . At the conclusion of the study , parents were asked to guess their child 's group assignment . RESULTS Twenty seven families guessed their child 's group assignment correctly and 27 guessed incorrectly . In 48 instances , parents based their guess on perceived improvement ; in six cases , parents based their guess on perceived deterioration . Six families saw no difference after either infusion , and offered no guess . One family dropped out after the first infusion , and one family was lost to follow up after the second infusion . CONCLUSION In a controlled setting , parents of young children with autism are unable to distinguish the short term behavioural effects of secretin from placebo .
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Intervention_Pharmacological
secretin
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Intervention_Pharmacological
secretin
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Intervention_Control
placebo
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Intervention_Pharmacological
synthetic human secretin
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Intervention_Control
placebo ( saline )
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Intervention_Pharmacological
placebo , followed six weeks later by secretin
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Intervention_Pharmacological
secretin followed by placebo
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Intervention_Pharmacological
secretin
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Intervention_Control
placebo
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Outcome_Mental
Standardised measures of behaviour
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Outcome_Mental
short term improvement
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Outcome_Mental
ability of parents of children with autism
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Outcome_Mental
deterioration
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Outcome_Mental
short term behavioural effects
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Participant_Condition
Children with autistic spectrum disorders .
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Participant_Condition
parents