An examination of the use of clinical trials as a source of information in scientific research

Abstract

As part of the innovation process, clinical research generates valuable data to assess technological solutions in healthcare, linking scientific research and knowledge transfer to provide beneficial innovations for society. However, the generated clinical data do not appear to be adequately available to the scientific community and society. The present study seeks to analyze the effectiveness of databases of clinical records as a source of relevant information for scientific research. We conducted a comparative analysis of 27 correlations of clinical trials between three different technologies and their scientific articles by consulting two information sources. Making connections between the data from these sources proved to be challenging. In addition, a considerable time lag (40 months on average) was observed between the end of the study and the publication of the results. Among the completed studies, 56% had not published their results in any of the channels studied. In addition to the paucity of reported results, the poor publication record of clinical trials is further evident in the lack of information on these studies in scientific publications. Thus, databases of clinical records are a potential source of information and may come to represent a central tool in the search for new technological solutions in healthcare.