Clinical Trials Flashcards
What is the purpose of clinical trials?
To find new ways of preventing, diagnosing, treating and controlling illness.
How are clinical trials made safer for participants?
People are involved in a carefully planned and controlled way.
Why must clinical trials be conducted?
They must be known to be safe for humans.
What protocols must clinical trials follow?
They must have controls, randomised trials, a placebo and double blind testing.
What is randomisation?
Everyone taking part is randomised and put into groups by a computer with one group given the new drug and the other given a placebo.
What happens after randomisation?
The research team compare the results from the two groups.
Why does randomisation make a trial more reliable?
The doctor has no say who is in each group.
What might happen to people who are taking the placebo?
They may feel better as they think they are being treated.
What will be the results of an effective drug?
The real drug will show better results than the placebo.
What does double blind testing mean?
The patients and researchers are unaware of who is getting the drug.
Why does double blind testing make the results more reliable?
Just knowing you are getting the drug may make you feel better so this is prevented.
What is done to check for experimental error?
At the end of the trial, results from the 2 groups are compared to determine whether there are any statistically significant differences between the two.
Why is group size important?
They must be of a suitable size to reduce the magnitude of experimental error.
