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Different types of study


There are many different ways of carrying out research and the method used depends on what kind of information the researchers want to find out. The three most common types of research at Birmingham Women's Hospital are:

1.

Clinical trials which test new types of medical treatment to see how well they work. There are four types of clinical trials:

  • A controlled trial is a trial that compares two or more treatments. Sometimes, a dummy treatment is included in the comparison.
  • In a randomised controlled trial, a computer usually decides the treatment you receive at random. This is to make sure that treatments are compared in a fair way and to make sure that everyone taking part has an equal chance to try each type of treatment.
  • In a blind trial, you do not know which treatment group you are in. ln a double blind trial, your doctor will not know either. Only some of the researchers will know. This helps to reduce the effect of one group of people doing better than another simply because they feel sure they're having the best treatment
2.Observational studies where researchers gather information about how well patients are responding to their existing treatment.
3.Questionnaire studies where your views about your health or medical treatment are collected.


Each kind of study involves a different level of patient involvement. If you have been asked to take part in questionnaire study you may simply want to know that the information you share with the researcher will be kept confidential. However, if you have been asked to take part in a clinical trial you may want to ask questions about how safe the new treatment is and what risks there could be to your health.



This page was last modified on Fri Mar 30 2012