(Family Features) Clinical trials are necessary for finding new ways of preventing, detecting or treating diseases, but often, limited participation creates challenges for meeting clinical trial goals. Despite decades of effort and strategies to identify and address barriers to recruiting and enrolling study participants, recruitment challenges persist, particularly among women, older adults and diverse patient populations.
“Potential study participants are reluctant to get involved for a variety of reasons, including the time commitment, lack of clarity regarding safeguards for their well-being and concerns about how their medical condition will be handled during the study,” said Alan Moss, MD, chief scientific officer with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, the leading nonprofit organization focused on both research and support of people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). “Taking part in a clinical trial gives patients an opportunity to access new therapies and can help shape future treatment, including how diseases are diagnosed, treated and even prevented.”
Learning more about the important role clinical trials play in health care may ultimately help you or someone you love find a new treatment or manage a condition, such as IBD, more effectively.
Importance of Clinical Trials
Finding a treatment that relieves patients’ symptoms and helps induce and maintain remission is important. However, these treatments wouldn’t be available without clinical trials. In fact, all U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medicines currently available on the market are the result of clinical trials and the patients who participated in them. When enrollment targets aren’t reached due to low patient participation, there may be delays in the drug approval process.
What You Should Know
There are plenty of reasons to consider participating in a clinical trial, especially if you’re looking for further options to treat a serious condition. Taking part in a clinical trial is a big step, so it’s important to be well-informed.
How to Learn More
If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial, it’s important to go to trusted sources to learn more and ask questions. For example, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation can point you toward clinical trial opportunities. Your doctor’s office can also be a good source of information about local studies.
If you’re hesitant about joining a trial involving a treatment but are eager to help, you might consider other types of research studies, such as prevention, diagnostic, screening or quality of life trials instead.
Once you identify a clinical trial that interests you and you may be eligible for, contact the research coordinator to learn more. You’ll also want to discuss the study in greater detail with your doctor and talk to loved ones within your support system who may have questions or helpful insight to consider.
Visit crohnscolitisfoundation.org/clinical-trials-community to learn more about IBD clinical trials and find opportunities near you.
Understanding IBD
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects nearly 1 in 100 people living in the United States, according to a study led by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. IBD is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that cause chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Symptoms include diarrhea, as well as abdominal pain, nausea, fever, loss of appetite, fatigue and, at times, rectal bleeding. No single test can confirm IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. There are currently no cures for IBD. Medication and managing your diet and nutrition are two of the most common treatment recommendations.
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