Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «R»:
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Randomization
Randomization: A method based on chance alone by which study participants are assigned to a treatment group. Randomization minimizes the differences among groups by equally distributing people with particular characteristics among all the trial arms. The researchers do not know which treatment is be...
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Randomize
Randomize: To use chance alone to assign or arrange. For example, the investigators may randomize the participants in a clinical trial to different groups in order to compare the outcomes of different treatments....
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Randomized
Randomized: The use of chance alone to assign the participants in an experiment or trial to different groups in order to fairly compare the outcomes with different treatments. Randomization is an important feature of experimental design....
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Randomized clinical trial
Randomized clinical trial: A clinical trial in which the participants are assigned randomly (by chance alone) to different treatments. See also: Randomized controlled trial....
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Randomized controlled trial
Randomized controlled trial: (RCT) A study in which people are allocated at random (by chance alone) to receive one of several clinical interventions. One of these interventions is the standard of comparison or control. The control may be a standard practice, a placebo ("sugar pill"), or no interven...
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Randomly
Randomly: In a random manner, as by chance alone. The participants in the trial were randomly assigned to receive aspirin or a placebo....
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Range
Range: In medicine and statistics, the difference
between the lowest and highest numerical values. For example, if five
premature infants are born weighing two, three, four, four, and five
pounds respectively, the range of their birth weights is two to five
pounds....
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Range of motion
Range of motion: The range through which a joint can be
moved, usually its range of flexion and extension. Due to an injury, the knee may for
example lack 10 degrees of full extension....
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Range, normal
Range, normal: By convention, the normal range for whatever (a particular test, condition, symptom, behavior, etc.) is set to cover ninety-five percent (95%) of all values from the general population. Five percent (5%) of results consequently fall outside the normal range. Values that prove normal c...
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RANTES
RANTES: A cytokine that is a member of the interleukin-8 superfamily of cytokines. RANTES is a protein. It is a selective attractant for memory T lymphocytes and monocytes. It binds to CCR5, a coreceptor of HIV. RANTES is an acronym for Regulated on Activation, Normal T Expressed and Secreted. It is...
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Rape
Rape: Forced sexual intercourse; sexual assault; sexual
intercourse between an adult and a minor. Rape may be heterosexual
(involving members of opposite sexes) or homosexual (involving
members of the same sex). Rape involves insertion of an erect penis
or an inanimate object into the female va...
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Rape, date
Rape, date: Rape of a woman by a man with whom she is
acquainted. The rapist is usually the woman's "date" (escort).
Although there are many possible date rape scenarios, in a common
one, the man tries to weaken the resistance of the female by exerting
undue psychological pressure upon her or b...
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Rapid eye movement sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep: Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) sleep is the portion of sleep when there are rapid eye movements (REMs).
Dreams occur during REM sleep. We typically have 3 to 5 periods of REM sleep per night. They occur at intervals of 1-2 hours and are quite variable in length. An episo...
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Rapid plasma reagin test
Rapid plasma reagin test: A screening blood test for syphilis. Rapid plasma reagin is commonly abbreviated RPR.
A negative ("nonreactive") RPR test result is compatible with a person not having syphilis. However, a person may have a negative RPR test and still have syphilis since, in the early stage...
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Rapid strep test
Rapid strep test: A diagnostic test commonly used to demonstrate whether streptococcus bacteria ("strep") are present in the throat. A throat infection with strep needs to be treated with an antibiotic.
The traditional test for a strep throat has been a throat culture; the major drawback is that the...