= Treatment contamination
Treatment contamination occurs when participants in one arm of a <randomized controlled trial> receive an intervention assigned to another arm. This is distinct from <contamination (statistics)> in robust estimation. The <intention-to-treat analysis> still compares randomized assignments, but intervention receipt becomes less separated between the arms, often diluting the assignment effect. Receipt-based comparisons can introduce <confounding> because receipt need not be randomized.
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