Making a difference: the clinical research programme for children
- 1 October 2007
- journal article
- Published by BMJ in Archives of Disease in Childhood
- Vol. 92 (10), 835-837
- https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2006.113357
Abstract
All of us involved in the clinical care of children have a duty to improve that care and one way of achieving this is through research. Attention has rightly been drawn to the lack of clinical trials which have addressed issues of relevance to children’s health.1 There are some demoralising statistics to support these arguments. For example, a review of clinical trials published in this journal over 15 years found that a high proportion had important methodological flaws and in around half the sample size was less than 40.2 There are similar findings in paediatric specialities,3 and in community paediatrics only 40% of decisions were supported by research evidence.4 Yet we are all aware of the dramatic impact which the results of clinical trials have had on the care and survival of children with malignant disease and those born preterm. To illustrate the impact of high quality research on children’s health worldwide, I have tried to identify some of the most important clinical trials which have benefited children.Keywords
This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Among Infants Before and After Introduction of Pneumococcal Conjugate VaccineJAMA, 2006
- Efficacy of a Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine against Acute Otitis MediaThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2001
- Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in childrenThe Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 2000
- Randomized controlled trials in cystic fibrosis (1966-1997) categorized by time, design, and interventionPediatric Pulmonology, 1999
- A 14-Month Randomized Clinical Trial of Treatment Strategies for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity DisorderArchives of General Psychiatry, 1999
- Reducing Children's Television Viewing to Prevent ObesityJAMA, 1999
- Research in children: ethical and scientific aspectsThe Lancet, 1999
- A search for the evidence supporting community paediatric practiceArchives of Disease in Childhood, 1999
- Palivizumab, a humanized respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibody, reduces hospitalization from respiratory syncytial virus infection in high-risk infants. The IMpact-RSV Study Group.1998
- A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Fluoxetine in Children and Adolescents With DepressionArchives of General Psychiatry, 1997