Effective Figures and Tables
8- 9
The next example is a flow chart for a prospective clinical trial. Such a figure can make it easier for reviewers and readers to understand the inclusion/exclusion and stratification processes and to see what happened to all the patients. ▪ This figure shows the steps in the processes and the numbers of patients at each step. ▪ The legend provides additional information about the patients who withdrew after stratification. It would have been difficult to include such information directly on this particular figure.
Figure 6. Design of the trial. Three patients withdrew during follow-up because they moved to other regions: the 2 patients in the conventional-therapy group withdrew after 0.4 and 4.7 years of follow-up, respectively, and the patient in the intensive- therapy group withdrew after 3.2 years. CVD denotes cardiovascular disease. (Reprinted with permission from Gaede P et al. Multifactorial intervention and cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med 348:383 – 393, 2003. Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society.)
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