Created: James Gardner, 2016-02-14
Audience: Community
Maturity: Planning
Here are a set of terms that mean specific things in the world of medicine that members of the public might not understand. If you have a better lay description of any of the terms, please let us know. If you are a member of the public who doesn't understand these descriptions, please tell us so we can make improve our description.
If you know of other glossaries people could use as a reference, please contribute the link.
Intervention : A process or action that is the focus of a clinical trial. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as surveys, education, and interviews.
Condition : The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.
Clincial : relating to the observation and treatment of actual patients rather than theoretical or laboratory studies
Biomedical : Biological processes in a medical context
Diagnostic : XXX
Theraputic : relating to the healing of disease.
Prophylactic : intended to prevent disease.
Pathogenesis: : the biological mechanism (or mechanisms) that lead to a diseased state. The term can also describe the origin and development of the disease, and whether it is acute, chronic, or recurrent. The word comes from the Greek pathos ("disease") and genesis ("creation").
Case Report Form : is a paper or electronic questionnaire specifically used in clinical trial research. The Case Report Form is the tool used by the sponsor of the clinical trial to collect data from each participating site. All data on each patient participating in a clinical trial are held and/or documented in the CRF, including adverse events.
Study Protocol: : The study protocol is the blueprint that all researchers will follow. It describes, in detail, the plan for conducting the clinical study. These two links specify design criteria for protocols: http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/format_rp/en/ https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/clinicalresearch/clinical-researchers/steps/Pages/prepareprotocol.aspx
Sponsor : XXX
Funder : XXX