TLDR
There are no studies where people were randomly assigned to use or not use parachutes when jumping from great heights, but that doesn't mean parachutes don't work.
Summary
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1 Study Aim
The main goal of this paper is to find out if parachutes are proven to prevent death or serious injury when people fall from a height, by looking for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The authors want to see if there is strong scientific evidence, from RCTs, that parachutes are effective at saving lives or preventing major injuries during free fall. No one has actually tested parachutes in a formal experiment where people are randomly assigned to use them or not.
2 Study Design
The authors performed a systematic review, which means they searched several large medical and scientific databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that tested parachute use during free fall from heights over 100 meters. They used specific search terms and included any language or country. The main outcomes they looked for were death or major trauma, defined as an injury severity score greater than 15. They planned to use statistical methods to compare groups if any studies were found. However, after searching, they did not find any RCTs that met their criteria. The researchers looked everywhere for experiments on parachutes but found none.
3 Findings
The review reveals that there are no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing whether parachutes prevent death or major injury in people jumping from heights. The authors discuss that, like many health interventions, parachutes have only been supported by observational data (studies where people choose whether or not to use a parachute, rather than being randomly assigned). They point out that relying only on observational data can be misleading because of biases, such as the 'healthy cohort effect' (where people who use parachutes may already be healthier or different in other ways). The authors humorously suggest that those who demand RCTs for all interventions should volunteer for a trial where some people jump without parachutes. They conclude that sometimes common sense should guide decisions, even without perfect scientific evidence. No one has done a formal experiment to prove parachutes work, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't use them.