Evidence-appraisal glossary
Modified intention-to-treat
Modified intention-to-treat (mITT) is an analysis that starts from all randomized participants but excludes a pre-defined subset, such as those who never received any treatment or had no post-baseline data.
Also called: mITT, modified ITT.
An mITT analysis sits between strict intention-to-treat, which keeps everyone as randomized, and per-protocol analysis, which keeps only fully compliant participants. Its validity hinges on whether the exclusions were defined in advance and applied evenly across groups, because loosely justified removals can quietly reintroduce the selection bias that randomization was meant to prevent. Look for exactly who was dropped and why, since the label mITT covers a wide range of practices.
Read the full Reading the Evidence blog.
This is a plain-language methodology definition for reading research. It is general education, not medical advice.