Whether you are a healthy volunteer or enrolling in a study for a specific condition, being a clinical trial participant can offer many benefits. It gives you the chance to be more involved in medical treatments, gain access to new therapies and be a part of medical breakthroughs to take place in the future. As a Black participant, you are playing an important role in providing much-needed research on how specific conditions and medications affect Black Americans.
If you’ve begun searching for clinical trials, you may find that the process can be a bit overwhelming. You may also find that it is challenging to find a clinical trial that is a good fit for you. If this sounds familiar, we’re here to help. Here’s how to get the most out of your clinical trial search.
Find a trial that’s close to you
When looking for the perfect trial, a big make-it-or-break-it factor is where the trial is located. As you search for a trial, think about how many miles you’re willing to travel for a trial. It may also help to think about how frequently the trial occurs. If frequent visits aren’t required, you may be fine with traveling a distance. However, if visits are frequent, you may find getting to the trial location difficult.
Some websites and matching tools make it easy to filter trials by location. This allows you to see if there are sites within your preferred travel radius. These matching tools can also save you time by helping you determine if you meet the eligibility requirements for a trial you are interested in through algorithms and databases that match patient attributes including age, gender, medical history, and current drugs.
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Choose between interventional or observational
Clinical trials are separated into two types: interventional and observational. The former aims to find out more about a particular intervention, or treatment (i.e. a drug, device or behavioral change) and how it can impact health-related outcomes. In the latter, researchers do not assign participants to a treatment or other intervention. Instead, they observe participants or measure certain outcomes to determine health outcomes.
Both of these study types will receive a protocol. The protocol provides a detailed plan for the study written by the trial sponsor and approved by the FDA.
Consider what phase the trial is in
The trial phase may also play an important role in determining if a trial is right for you and if you will be accepted.
Phase 1: Phase 1 trials are the earliest phase trials. These trials test if a treatment is safe and enrolls thelowest number of volunteers.
Phase 2: Phase 2 trials are slightly larger, and test whether a treatment is both safe and effective.
Phase 3: Phase 3 trials are later phase trials. Phase 3 trials are the largest, typically enrolling hundreds or thousands of participants, and test for safety and effectiveness in a larger population.
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Check your trial eligibility
After you have gone through all of the steps listed above and have found a trial that you are interested in, you must understand the requirements. Every clinical trial is different, so the specific requirements of the trial you are interested in may vary from the next. In general, specific requirements typically relate to the number of site visits, mandatory medical procedures and how patients must report on metrics throughout the study.
During the informed consent process, the research staff will go over these requirements with you and allow you to enroll or withdraw yourself from the trial at any time.
