
What is clinical research and why do people take part?
Clinical research involves studying new treatments, drugs, medical devices and other health interventions in people. We can think of it as the process of testing new ideas to find new solutions to improve health.
Types of clinical research include:
- Epidemiology: Studying how diseases spread and what causes them
- Behavioral: Understanding how our habits and actions affect our health
- Health services: Looking at how people get healthcare, how much it costs and how well it works.
- Clinical trials: Testing new treatments to see if they are safe and effective.
What are clinical trials and why would I take part?
Clinical trails are a type of clinical research. They’re at the heart of medical progress. They test new ways to: Prevent diseases, find diseases earlier and to treat diseases. Taking part in clinical trials can choose to benefit from the newest treatments available and thus offer new hope for many people who’re ill. Healthy volunteers may take part in order to help others and to further medical knowledge.
What are the types of clinical trials?
There are different types of clinical trials.
- Prevention: Trying to stop new diseases before they start
- Screening: Finding better ways to detect diseases
- Diagnostic: Improving tests for diagnosing illness
- Treatment: test new treatments, surgery techniques or therapies
- Behavioral: Finding new ways to encourage healthy habits
- Quality of life trials: Improving comfort and well-being for people with illnesses
What are the phases of clinical trials?
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps called “phases.” Each phase has a different purpose and helps researchers answer different questions.
Phase 1: Is it safe? A small group (20-80 people) tries the treatment first. The focus is on safety and spotting any side effects.
Phase 2: Does it work? A larger group (100-300 people) gets the treatment. Now, researchers check if it actually helps and keep an eye on safety.
Phase 3: Is it better? Thousands of people (1,000-3,000) get the treatment. Researchers compare it to existing treatments to see if it's better, and they watch closely for side effects.
Phase 4: Long-term safety: After the treatment is available to everyone, researchers keep tracking its safety and how well it works in the real world.
Fairness and accuracy in clinical trials
There are also ways to make sure the tests are fair and accurate. When hearing about trials you will sometimes hear the term placebo. A placebo means a fake. So one group may receive a fake: treatment (like a sugar pill) that looks like the real one. It helps researchers see if the real treatment works better than nothing. Placebos are always safe substances, however. Randomisation is another way to ensure the fairness of tests with participants randomly assigned to get either the new treatment or the standard treatment/placebo. This prevents researchers from choosing who gets what, which could skew the results. Lastly you may hear the term blinded. This simply means that researchers keep information hidden to avoid bias.
What happens after a trial?
Researchers study all the data and if the treatment is safe and effective, it might become a new standard treatment. The results are usually shared in the scientific community and in publications as well as being reported in the news and public benefits from the new treatment.