Healthy Volunteer Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are often recommended for those with diseases or medical conditions as a way to try potential treatments that may prove to be beneficial. However, healthy volunteers are just as important to clinical trials as volunteers with existing health problems.
What Are Healthy Volunteer Studies Used For?
Healthy volunteer clinical trials are typically open to those without any significant health problems who are in good health. They can be used to help test a new device, drug, or intervention.
What Phase of the Clinical Trial Uses Healthy Volunteers?
Clinical trials for new therapies consist of four phases, with healthy volunteers typically used during the initial Phase I. Phase 1consists of only 20-100 healthy volunteers or in some cases like cancer -- patients with the condition. Phase 1 participants are utilized to help set a baseline that the intervention is compared to. For reference, phase four of the clinical trial requires several thousand individuals with the specified condition, so the initial phase requires a limited number of healthy volunteers to obtain the necessary information.
How Does Clinical Research Use Healthy Volunteers?
Essentially, healthy volunteers are used as a comparison to ensure that the tested device, drug, or intervention provides significant benefits to those with an existing health condition. Using healthy volunteers in clinical trials helps to provide additional information about the tested product.
Sometimes healthy volunteers serve as control groups. They are matched with patients who have a health condition based on shared characteristics such as gender or age. This is why having a range of healthy volunteers in clinical research is essential; it helps to provide a more well-rounded picture of the effectiveness of the investigational product.
As with all clinical trials, it is important to know that choosing to enroll (even as a healthy volunteer) is an entirely personal choice, and one that you can choose to revoke at any time. You are never forced to continue with the clinical trial; you always have the freedom to leave at any time, and for any reason.
Joining Clinical Trials as a Healthy Volunteer
If you fit the criteria for a healthy volunteer and are interested in joining a clinical trial to contribute to medical research, you can browse the list above of clinical trials currently recruiting healthy volunteers.