Comparison subjects deliberately paired to the study group on key traits.
Matched controls are participants in a comparison group who are selected or paired to closely resemble the intervention/exposed group on specific characteristics (e.g. age, sex, training history, injury status) that could otherwise confound the result. This improves comparability versus an unmatched control group, but only controls for the variables actually matched on — unmeasured confounders can still differ between groups. The term is sometimes used loosely to mean any control group described as "comparable," so check what matching criteria and method (e.g. 1:1 pair-matching vs. group-level matching) were actually used.
This guide was auto-drafted and is pending editorial review.