Types of studies

There are several ways in which researchers test drugs to see whether they can be approved for general use. For example:

• Treatment studies look at a new medication or combination of medications to see if they can change the way a disease is treated.
• Prevention studies look at ways to avoid a specific health condition or to stop it from returning in people who are already affected.
• Diagnostic studies try to find new tests for existing illnesses.
• Screening studies examine how to spot people who have a specific disease.
• Quality of life studies review the effects a medical condition has on someone’s life and try to find ways to improve these or make it easier to live a normal life.

As well as trying to find new medications, researchers sometimes look at existing drugs, to see how they work in new people or to check which is the best dose. Sometimes, a medicine that works for one disease may be tried in another.

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