What are the different types of clinical research?
Not all clinical research involves new treatments for a disease. In fact, there are several different kinds of clinical research that you should know about. Intervention studies look at specific medications, procedures and devices, helping to determine if these new approaches are more effective at treating a disease or medical condition, or at modifying risk behaviors. Prevention studies help to determine how we can better prevent a certain disease or condition from occurring in healthy people. Diagnostic and screening studies look for better ways to detect and diagnose disease. Behavioral research seeks to identify how certain behaviors are related to a variety of diseases, and how these behaviors can be modified. Quality of life studies look for ways to help those with chronic or incurable diseases. Observational studies follow participants over a period of time—observing their health over the course of months or years—without changes to their treatment.
