Review of published clinical trials conducted in Singapore from 1959 to 1994.
Trials are increasingly being used to evaluate the effectiveness of health care interventions. As has been recognised by those active in these activities, there is a need, not only to search for all published materials, but also to evaluate their quality and usefulness. This paper is an attempt to provide information and to examine the areas of focus and quality of information on all published clinical trials conducted in Singapore from 1959 to 1994. The searches were conducted using the MEDLINE CD-ROM for the period from 1966 to 1994 and manual search for the period before 1966. All published studies involving drugs or procedures (surgical techniques or instrumentation) on human subjects performed in Singapore were included in the study. Out of a total of 136 papers obtained, 90 fulfilled our criteria. There is an increase in the number of publications over the years especially in the last 10 years; with the biggest surge in the last 5 years. Most of the clinical trials were pharmacological intervention studies (57.8%) although there is a steady rise in non-pharmacological studies recently. As the number of clinical trials increases, coupled with the rising cost, it would be useful for the relevant authorities to consider setting up a registry to co-ordinate the trials that are being conducted.
Lee
H P
HP
Department of Community, Occupational, Family Medicine National University of Singapore.
Chia
S E
SE
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006801:Humans; D016239:MEDLINE; D010600:Pharmacology; D012042:Registries; D012846:Singapore