Signing up to be a participant in a clinical study means volunteering your time – and, depending on the study, your comfort and even bodily fluids – often without compensation. So why should anyone bother?

What do I get out of participating in a clinical study?

1. Early access

One practical benefit to participating in a clinical trial is access to new medical treatments years before they’re broadly available, says William Abraham, MD, a cardiologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Abraham also is a prolific research scientist in the areas of heart failure and other cardiac health issues.

2. Better health

“Patients who participate in clinical trials also generally have better health outcomes than patients who don’t, even when they’re given placebos,” he says.

“We have evidence that this is the case and don’t fully understand why, but patients who participate in research do get more attention from healthcare providers and from specialists in the disease that may be affecting them.”

3. Ability to influence medicine’s future

Many participants in research studies also find great satisfaction in knowing that they’re contributing to the future of medicine.

“Participants aren’t just study subjects,” says Rebecca Jackson, MD, the director of The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science and associate dean for clinical research at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

“They’re collaborators, and they can be advocates. They’re how we can do work that becomes meaningful.”

Peter Mohler, PhD, vice dean for research at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, notes that many participants have their descendants in mind.

“We work a lot with genetics and people who have a family history of heart disease or lung disease,” says Mohler, whose cardiovascular research has led to the discovery and diagnosis of several diseases.

“A major reason that family members elect to participate in clinical studies is that it may provide new answers – potentially even new cures for their children and even grandchildren.”

Even for diseases that aren’t genetic, communities surrounding medical conditions can help accelerate discoveries that save lives.

“The best example of this is cystic fibrosis,” Mohler says. “In just three decades, cystic fibrosis went from a disease that resulted in death in young adults. Thanks to research collaborations that included a host of clinical studies, this same disease has new and successful therapies.” 

See the innovation and research being developed at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center

What if I don’t have a condition with current studies?

There are studies for everyone – you don’t have to have any particular health condition to help further research, Jackson says.

“We can learn from you even if you don’t have significant health problems,” she says.

Do researchers in a clinical trial have my best health in mind?

“Physicians adhere to the fundamental tenets of the Hippocratic oath, dedicating themselves first to the individual patient’s health,” Abraham says.

Research investigators also are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the patient. This might be, for example, that the researcher is working with a study sponsor.

“For the vast majority of studies, those conflicts are minimal or nonexistent,” he says. “And each clinical trial is actively monitored to make sure that we adhere to a patient-first approach.”

What if clinical studies couldn’t find any willing participants?

“If no one participates, everything just stops,” Mohler says. “You can’t move forward technologies or therapies, whether it’s a new device or medication, or a new way to think about how we deliver care or manage patients better.”

At leading-edge academic medical centers like Ohio State, patients who participate in research have the opportunity to contribute to efforts that affect more than just the individual patient – that research can influence critical care throughout the world.

“If we didn’t have clinical trials, we wouldn’t have new medicines, we wouldn’t have new ways to treat our families, no new medical devices,” Mohler says. “The real question is: How can we not do clinical trial research?”