A new study affirms the feasibility of using the Internet to conduct gold-standard medical research. The authors say the findings are the first to be based on a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial conducted entirely via the Internet. The eight-week trial looked at the effects of two herbal remedies, kava and valerian, that are used widely to treat anxiety and insomnia. The supplements' effects were not remarkable, according to the study; neither provided more insomnia or anxiety relief than placebo. While the results echo earlier findings, the researchers' use of the Internet for everything -- from recruitment to patient consent to data collection -- makes the study unique. Previous Internet-based trials used the Web for most, but not all, steps of the research process. The all-electronic method offers several advantages, the authors said. "You can roll out a study much quicker, which allows you to get results much quicker," said Bradly Jacobs, lead study author and assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Results "can be made available to the public much quicker," he added...."The minute you finish [an Internet-based] trial, . . . the data entry is done," said Tim McAlindon, a rheumatologist and director of the Center for Internet-Based Epidemiologic Research, which focuses on developing and validating Internet research, at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He said online research costs a quarter to a half the price of a traditional trial....Internet-based trials provide benefits that can aid researchers and speed the release of findings. "The goal here," Jacobs said, "is really to increase access" to trials and data "for the U.S. population."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/24/2005 09:17:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
