Pilot Studies

Pilot intervention studies, commonly defined as small studies carried out in preparation for larger investigations, 1 are essential precursors to high-quality clinical trials. Although not all trials are preceded by pilot investigations, when they are, pilot studies inform how subsequent trials are conducted and have an important role in controlling the pipeline of intervention development and dissemination by influencing which large-scale trials are ultimately carried out and which are never brought to fruition. 2]