Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are research studies involving volunteer participants to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of health interventions. The interventions may be new treatments including drugs, behavioural therapies or alternative or new methods of diagnosis. A clinical trial is designed in phases:

  1. Phase I. The trial involves a small group (20-100) of healthy individuals to evaluate the safety of the intervention (e.g. to determine safe dose range and side effects);

  2. Phase II. The trial involves a group (100-300) of patients to test for efficacy (e.g. therapeutic dosage) and safety;

  3. Phase III. The trial involves a larger group of patients (1000-2000) to confirm effectiveness, to monitor side effects, and to compare the new treatment to commonly used treatments;

  4. Phase IV. Phase IV is sometimes referred to as Post-market Surveillance. The trial is conducted after the treatment is being used to monitor for long-term effects.

Arthritis Society Canada does not recruit volunteers directly for clinical trials. For those interested in learning more about clinical trials or volunteering for a clinical trial, a few resources are listed below.

NEW!

  • Clinical Trials Quebec, powered by CATALIS Quebec, offers a Personalized Clinical Trials Support Service. It is a bilingual, free and user-friendly research service designed to help Quebecers find clinical trials that meet their needs.

    • Clinical Trials Quebec – Personalized Clinical Trial Support Service learn more