Questions about Clinical Research
Why participate in a clinical trial (or other clinical research project)? Participants in clinical trials can play a more active role in their own health care, gain access to new research treatments before they are widely available, and help others by contributing to medical research.
|
 Image by goldmund100 |
| Who can participate in a clinical trial? All clinical trials have guidelines about who can participate. The factors that allow someone to participate in a trial are called "inclusion criteria" and those that disallow someone from participating are called "exclusion criteria." These criteria are based on factors as age, gender, the type and stage of a disease, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions. Before joining a clinical trial, a participant must qualify for the study. Some research studies seek participants with illnesses or conditions to be studied in the clinical trial, while others need healthy participants. It is important to note that inclusion and exclusion criteria are not used to reject people personally. Instead, the criteria are used to identify appropriate participants and keep them safe. The criteria help ensure that researchers will be able to answer the questions they plan to study. |
|
|
What should people consider before participating in a trial? People should know as much as possible about the clinical trial and feel comfortable asking the members of the health care team questions about it, the care expected while in a trial, and the cost of the trial. The following questions might be helpful for the participant to discuss with the health care team. Some of the answers to these questions are found in the informed consent document.
Definition of a clinical trial What are the different types of clinical trials? This and other information can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov |
|