Easier Access to Clinical Trial Information
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), through its National Library of Medicine (NLM), has developed Clinical Trials.gov, which offers up-to-date information for locating federally and privately supported clinical trials for a wide range of diseases and conditions.
This database currently contains almost 100,000 trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies, and private industry. Studies listed in the database are conducted in all 50 states and in 174 countries
The site provides access to patients, family members, health care professionals and members of the public easy access to clinical trials. A clinical trial (also clinical research) is a research study in human volunteers to answer specific health questions. There are three types of trials covered on the site:
- Interventional studies
- Observational studies
- Expanded Access studies
Interventional trials determine whether experimental treatments or new ways of using known therapies are safe and effective under controlled environments. Observational trials address health issues in large groups of people or populations in natural settings.
In doing a Basic Search, you can put in a general or specific condition (arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis), along with any additional parameters, such as location or treatment. Up pops all the studies that are either recruiting, active, or completed. It shows the name of the study, conditions the study is focused on, as well as interventions (Drug or otherwise). You can further refine the search using a number of search criteria or find results by topic or pinpointed on a map. All in all, it is a very thorough search engine.
Search for Clinical Trials
Find trials for a specific medical condition or other criteria in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry.
Background Information
Learn about clinical trials and how to use ClinicalTrials.gov, or access other consumer health information from the US National Institutes of Health.
Wednesday 15h50 27/02/2013