Why participate in a clinical trial?

Clinical trials are essential to understanding health problems and how to treat, prevent or cure them.

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.

A recent survey of patients by The Royal College of Physicians found that patients who completed the survey expressed a strong desire to take part in research. Those patients considered trials to be important to advance knowledge about patient care and as a way to improve their understanding of their own illness.

All clinical trials have guidelines about who can participate and you would need to meet certain selection criteria to be eligible to take part.

What next?

The Royal College of Physicians is asking the NHS, the Medical Research Council, doctors and the pharmaceutical industry to make patients aware of clinical trials, and to help people take part. They also urge these groups to include patients in decisions about research priorities.

Datapharm, the publishers of the Medicine Guides website, is considering how we might respond to patients desire to participate in clinical trials and the Royal College of Physician's desire that trials be made more accessible to people. For example, this type of information could be included on the Medicine Guides website. More about Medicine Guides.