Medical Library
Clinical Trials: Description and resources
About Clinical Trials
What is a clinical trial?
Cinical trials are biomedical or health-related research studies in human beings that follow a pre-defined protocol. Two common types of studies are interventional and observational.
Interventional studies
Research subjects are assigned by the investigator to a treatment or other intervention, and their outcomes are measured.
Observational studies
Individuals are observed and their outcomes are measured by the investigators. Data from large, prospective observational studies provide information about the safety and efficacy of medicines in daily clinical use. (from Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2010 May;88 Suppl 1:S3-9)
Where to Find Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.govLaunched by NIH, ClinicalTrials.gov provides patients and members of the public easy access to information about the location of clinical trials, their design and purpose, criteria for participation and additional disease and treatment information.
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National Cancer Institute List of Clinical TrialsIn addition to a list of clinical trials current accepting participants, this site lists recent clinical trial results, educational materials about clinical trials and information about conducting clinical trials.
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CenterWatchCenterWatch lists international clinical trials, drug information and and other resources for patients.