Monday, June 10, 2019

What happens at a clinical trial screening?

I've found a whole group of webinars about clinical trials that I have found both interesting and informative.  Presenters often include professionals who help run trials.This latest addresses what happens during a clinical trial screening - this is where the researchers find out if you meet their needs, and you find out more details so you can decide whether to commit to the trial.


The presenters point out that the screening often takes place in two phases - preliminary (often done by telephone), and in person.  The preliminary phase lets both you - the person who might want to be in the clinical trial - and the researcher, get to know whether you would be a good "fit" for the study, and whether you want to commit to the requirements (go to x place on these dates, provide samples for lab testing and/or diagnostic tests like MRI, and so on).  Remember that participation is voluntary, so you decide if you're committed, even if they want you.  (No recourse if they don't want you, though.)

I've been through this preliminary phase a number of times; it's here that you find out what are the basic patient characteristics the researchers are looking for - and what they want to avoid. (It's also usually in the written description in ClinicalTrials.gov.)  It's also a great time to find out how often you'd have to go to their location (am I willing to drive to another state once a month for six months, for example?)  This sure beats travelling to a laboratory or office or clinic, only to find that this particular trial doesn't work with my schedule, or I don't quite fit their needs.  (The middle of the video talks about typical tests for an asthma clinical trial, so you may want to skip that part.)

For example, I participated in a study that looked at telemedicine as a way to diagnose a condition; in that study, a medical student answered my questions and asked a series of his own questions.  Then the principal investigator phoned with more detailed questions.  When we both agreed I would be useful in the study, I "signed" consent forms online.  The actual study was done via the internet using software similar to Skype on our computers.

Later, I had the chance to be in a drug trial; a professional associated with the study phoned me in response to my email asking for more information.  I met the basic screening criteria, but the time and energy commitment would have been substantial; I would have had to get somebody to drive me 3 hours round trip, not once or twice, but monthly for a year, so that they could do lab tests and observe my progress, if any.  I decided that it was too much driving over too long a period; she did not pressure me in any way.  Participation is my choice, always.

I found other useful webinars about clinical trials on Antidote's website, as well, which reflect Antidote's desire to educate patients as they recruit them for trials.    Antidote provides a searchable database of trials (presumably based on clinicaltrial.gov) for patients, and, for researchers, "accelerates your [researcher] clinical trials through best-in-class digital recruitment and patient engagement." You might want to take a look.

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