title: The importance of early phase research.
abstract: Early phase research in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is especially important because of the large influence it has on the subsequent expenditure of money and effort in particular areas of CAM therapies. The culture of biomedical research has, however, blurred the distinction between early and late-phase research, and this has distorted the very distinct aims of these two activities. The purpose of this paper is to reaffirm the critical role of early phase CAM research and to encourage CAM researchers to value and conduct early phase studies for their proper purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Program in Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. maickin@earthlink.net
authors.forename: Mikel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aickin
mesh_terms: D002985:Clinical Protocols / Q000592:standards*; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000592:standards*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D018401:Sample Size