When you think of clinical trials, you may think of studies that require volunteers to spend time in a quarantine facility. However, today, there are many different ways in which clinical studies can be run.

Take field studies, for example, whereby participants don’t have to spend their time in controlled environments. These studies offer valuable insights by observing the effectiveness, safety, and cost-efficiency of treatments in everyday situations. Unlike traditional clinical trials, field studies allow researchers to gather data from a broader and more diverse population, helping to better understand how treatments perform in the long term, across different demographics, and under various conditions.

What are field studies?

When a new treatment is created, it must undergo clinical trials on human subjects before it can be approved and made available to the public. This process usually involves multiple phases of clinical trials, which assess how people react to the treatment in a controlled environment.

By the third phase of a clinical trial, a significant amount of data has already been collected, and the longer-term effects are considered. However, the data that researchers can obtain during these phases are mostly gathered in controlled settings. This means that even when looking at long-term data from the third phase, there is still a significant amount of real-world details missing.

This is where field studies, or later-phase trials, come into play. A field study is a type of study conducted after the treatment is approved and made available to the public. The study focuses on gathering information from the real world, where conditions and populations are uncontrolled.

The data collected during field studies allows researchers, sponsors, and others involved with the development of the treatment to assess its effectiveness in real-life situations, as well as to determine whether it is as safe as the data gathered during the initial clinical trials suggested. 

How do field studies differ from traditional clinical trials?

Traditional clinical trials are conducted in controlled environments, such as our London quarantine facility, where researchers can closely monitor participants and manage various factors. These trials aim to collect data that demonstrates the treatment works as intended under ideal conditions.

In contrast, field studies do not require participants to spend time in a controlled environment. Instead, participants take part as ‘outpatients,’ attending only intermittent face-to-face assessments. This allows researchers to observe how treatments perform across a broader and more diverse population in real-world settings. Due to the nature of these studies, field studies do not require participants to be inoculated with the virus.

Benefits of field studies

Field studies offer numerous advantages to the medical sector as they provide valuable insights into how treatments perform in real-world, uncontrolled situations. The data gathered during these studies is crucial for understanding how treatments work outside of clinical environments, where many variables cannot be fully controlled.

In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the primary benefits that field studies offer.

Accessibility

One of the key benefits of field studies is the greater accessibility they offer to both researchers and participants. Since there’s no need for participants to stay in a facility, recruiting volunteers for these studies becomes much easier.

At FluCamp, participants attend as ‘outpatients,’ meaning they only need to visit our London or Manchester screening facilities to check their eligibility. If selected, participants then attend scheduled face-to-face visits and assessments. This structure makes field studies more convenient for participants, helping to encourage greater involvement and ensuring higher participation rates.

Insights

Field studies provide real-world data from populations outside controlled environments, offering a deeper insight into how a treatment works, particularly over the long term. This data is highly valuable because it reflects the treatment’s performance in conditions that can’t be fully simulated in a traditional clinical trial setting.

The insights gained from field studies not only help to assess the treatment’s effectiveness but can also inform improvements to existing treatments. They can even lay the groundwork for future formulations, potentially leading to more effective solutions for preventing and treating diseases.

Safety profiles

Field studies also enable researchers to gather more comprehensive data on the safety of treatments. While clinical trials can last several years, field studies often run for a longer duration, allowing researchers to assess the safety profile of treatments over extended periods, sometimes even a decade or more. This longer timeframe helps ensure that long-term safety is properly understood.

What happens during a field study?

Due to selection criteria, not everyone who applies to take part in a field study will be accepted. As part of this process, potential volunteers will visit a screening facility, where researchers can assess their eligibility and obtain their consent.

If selected, volunteers will attend as ‘outpatients.’ After being randomised, they will be required to attend scheduled face-to-face visits, occasionally mixed with follow-up calls. Throughout the study, participants will undergo regular assessments, such as blood tests, ECGs, and other study-specific procedures.

While field studies share some similarities with quarantine studies, they typically run over a longer period and do not involve inoculation with the virus. This allows for ongoing monitoring and data collection without the need for extended stays in controlled laboratory settings.

Take part in a field study with FluCamp

Field studies are invaluable after a new treatment has been approved and is in use. They provide greater accessibility for participants and allow researchers to collect data from uncontrolled, real-world populations, offering insights that cannot be obtained in controlled environments.

If you’re interested in participating in clinical trials, FluCamp is the ideal choice for you. All participants who qualify for a trial are compensated, and the data you provide helps advance medical treatments. Contact FluCamp today to learn more about the available clinical trials.