Conducting clinical trials over the internet: feasibility study

Can randomised controlled trials be successfully conducted over the internet?The authors report a feasibility study of such a trial in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee How was the trial done over the internet?Architecture of the study website We constructed a website to solicit participants and conduct the trial.The site was situated on an independent server within the Boston University School of Medicine domain.We protected participants' An extra table appears on bmj.com Summary pointsThe possibility of conducting clinical trials on line is a relatively unexplored application of the internet For online trials to be methodologically appealing they must be feasible, efficient, and valid More than 1200 people applied on line to take part in a trial of glucosamine in osteoarthritis of the knee Of 205 participants randomised, approximately 80% completed the trial The estimated cost of the trial was about half that of a hospital based approach The requirement for written consent and medical records slowed down the progress of the trial Most participants had a positive view of the trial and would be happy to participate in another such trial in the future