Clinical Studies vs Clinical Trials

Clinical studies are used in different circumstances depending on what is known and what isn’t. Scientists may even study the same research question using different kinds of studies and different demographics

Let’s share an overview of different studies:

Observational Studies: An observational study is a study in which the researcher simply observes the subjects without interfering. It helps the researchers understand a situation and come up with hypotheses that can be put to the test in clinical trials.

Case Study/Case Series: A detailed description of one or more patients. By documenting new and unusual cases, researchers start to generate hypotheses about causes or risk factors.

Epidemiological Study: In epidemiology, researchers are interested in measuring or assessing the relationship of exposure with a disease or an outcome. A detailed description of one or more patients. By documenting new and unusual cases, researchers start to generate hypotheses about causes or risk factors.

Cross-Sectional Study: Compares the rate of a disease or condition for groups of people, such as towns in different climates or with different average incomes.

Case-Control Study: A snapshot of many people at one moment in time. These studies can show how common a condition is and help identify factors associated with it.

Cohort Study: A large group of people is observed over time. Some eventually develop a disease or condition. Researchers can learn how often the condition occurs and find possible causes or risk factors.

Clinical Trials: In these studies, researchers test new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Treatments might be new drugs or combinations of drugs, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways to use existing treatments. Clinical trials can also test other aspects of care, such as ways to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. A well-designed clinical trial is a gold standard for proving that a treatment or medical approach works, but clinical trials can’t always be used.

In the order of effectiveness clinical trial is found to be more reliable, why? Well, because clinical trials are known to be the gold standard for medical research and preferred for investigating the efficacy of new interventions. Many authors and editors believe that the design of the clinical trials always surpasses other research designs. The main advantage of clinical trials is that it provides better control over possible bias through randomization and blinding. In other words, the great strength of clinical trials is their high internal validity.