Who Can Participate in a Clinical Trial?

In order for a clinical trial to produce reliable results, participants in the study must be carefully selected. All clinical trials have rules and guidelines about who can and cannot participate. These are called inclusion and exclusion criteria and involve such factors as age, gender, treatment history, stage of disease, and other medical conditions.

Factors that allow a person to participate in a clinical trial are called the inclusion criteria and factors that do not allow a person to participate are called exclusion criteria. Some trials look for participants who are healthy and have no previous health conditions while other studies only want participants with certain illness to participate.

Before a clinical trial can accept any participants, the sponsor of the study must clearly describe the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

It's your personal choice if you want to participate in a clinical trial. If you are unsure, talk to your doctor, family, and friends. If you find a trial that you might qualify for, contact the research staff to get more information. Knowing as much as you can about the trial will make your decision a bit easier.

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