ICH GCP | Clinical Trials Registry

The last updated date is the most recent date when changes to a clinical trial were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is often a delay of a few days before the updated trial is available on the clinical trials website.

Specify a From date to find the most recently changed trials. Specify both From and To dates to find trials changed during a certain period. If no dates are given, all trials will be included.

Dates should be given in a MM/DD/YYYY format, as in 1/1/2006 or 8/17/2004.

The first received date is the date when the clinical trial was first submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is often a delay of a few days before the trial is available on the clinical trials website.

Clinical trial records are often updated after they have been published. The first received, last updated, start, and end dates are all displayed in the full text view of the clinical trial.

Specify a From date to find the most recent trials. Specify both From and To dates to find trials submitted during a certain period. If no dates are given, all trials will be included.

Dates should be given in a MM/DD/YYYY format, as in 1/1/2006 or 8/17/2004.

If selected, restricts search results to those studies which have an outcome measure designated as a safety issue. Note that this is a poor estimate of the safety of a treatment or intervention, but it is all we have now.

Studies are supported by one or more organizations called sponsors. Support includes contributions of facilities, expertise, and/or financial resources. All sponsors in the database have been assigned one of the following organization types:
Click the check box to the left of each organization type that you wish to include in your search. You can select more than one organization type. If you do not select any type, all types will be included.

Most clinical trials are designated as phase 1, 2, 3, or 4, based on the type of questions that study is seeking to answer:
These phases are defined by the Food and Drug Administration in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Click the check box to the left of each study phase that you wish to include in your search. You can select more than one study phase. If you do not select a any phase, all phases will be included.

Studies may be designed for participants of particular ages:
Click the check box to the left of each age group that you wish to include in your search. You can select more than one age group. If you do not select a any group, all groups will be included.

Searches can be restricted to studies which accept female or male participants.

If you are interested in a specific city (such as Los Angeles) or facility name (such as the Mayo Clinic), enter it as a location term. Not all studies include this level of detail, but if they do, this will find them.

Trials are often conducted at many locations around the world. Select up to three locations to find trials conducted in specific countries. Some countries (currently limited to the United States, Canada, and Australia), locations can be narrowed further by selecting a state.

Each trial is assigned one or more identification numbers by the institute, agency, or organization sponsoring the trial. In addition, clinical trials assigns a unique NCT identifier of the form NCTxxxxxxxx where each x is a numeric digit. Use this box to search for a trial by NCT identifier or any other study identification numbers.

Examples:

Use this box to specify the name of an institute, organization, or company that is conducting a trial.

It is common for several organizations to collaborate by providing funding, facilities, experimental treatments, etc. Which organization is considered the sponsor is decided by the data provider.

A search in this area will check only the sponsor field. To also look for collaborators, use the Sponsor/Collaborators search box.

When the Exact Match checkbox is checked, the sponsor name in the study must exactly match the sponsor name in the search. For example, if unchecked, a search for Merck in the lead sponsor field will find Merck, Merck KGaA, Dupont Merck, and Merck Sharp & Dohme. When checked, only Merck, with no other words in the name, will be found.

Examples:

Use this box to specify institutes, organizations, or companies that are conducting or otherwise supporting a trial.

It is common for several organizations to collaborate by providing funding, facilities, experimental treatments, etc. Which organization is considered the sponsor is decided by the data provider.

Searching this area will look in both the sponsor field and in the collaborators field. To only look in the sponsor field, use the Sponsor (Lead) search box.

When the Exact Match checkbox is checked, the name in the study must exactly match the name in the search. For example, if unchecked, a search for Merck will find Merck, Merck KGaA, Dupont Merck, and Merck Sharp & Dohme. When checked, only Merck, with no other words in the name, will be found.

Examples:

Outcome measures are used to evaluate trial results. For example, an obesity treatment might be evaluated by a measure of weight loss after 6 months. Measures can also be used to quantify side effects, such as number of myocardial infarctions, number of patients with heart arrhythmia, number of suicides, etc.

Use this box to specify an outcome measure used to evaluate trial results.

Examples:

Interventions refer to the drug, vaccine, procedure, device, or other potential treatment being studied. Interventions can also include less intrusive possibilities such as surveys, education, and interviews.

Use this box to specify drugs, devices, procedures, or vaccines used in a trial.

Examples:

Conditions usually refer to a disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury. In ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions include any health issue worth studying, such as lifespan, quality of life, health risks, etc.

Use this box to specify the conditions being studied.

Examples:

Searches can be restricted to studies with or without results.

The inclusion of study results is a relatively new feature of ClinicalTrials.gov. Collection of results began in September of 2008. Almost all older studies and some newer studies do not include results. As time goes on, there will be more results available.

Also known as Enrollment Status.

Not all clinical trials in this database are accepting new participants. If you are looking for studies that are currently recruiting participants, will be recruiting in the future, or are about drugs that are available for expanded access, select Open Studies in the recruitment menu.

If you are interested in all trials, whether they are recruiting new participants or not, leave the menu with All Studies selected.

Trials may not be recruiting because they are full, completed, or halted for various reasons. In addition, some trials have very restrictive eligibility requirements and must seek participants by invitation only. To see these studies, Select Closed Studies in the recruitment menu.

Full list of all possible recruitment status values:
Values are color coded (as shown) in the search results.

Use this box to specify general search terms found anywhere in the trial record.

Multiple terms can be separated by an AND (all uppercase).

Examples: