News
FINAL FOLLOW UP CALLS FROM JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2023
When we designed LENS, we knew that the trial needed to include enough participants and continue for long enough to reliably tell us whether treatment with fenofibrate is beneficial—in other words, if fenofibrate reduces the number of people with diabetic retinopathy who go on to develop significant eye disease. The trial will continue until the second half of 2023 to achieve this.
From 17 July 2023, participants will have their final LENS call with one of the research nurses. A few weeks before this, we will also send participants the two paper questionnaires (about vision and quality of life) by mail to complete one last time.
INTERNATIONAL CLINICAL TRIALS DAY 2022
May 20th is International Clinical Trials Day. This is the anniversary of the date in 1747 when James Lind, a surgeon's mate on the HMS Salisbury, started what is often considered the first clinical trial, testing whether various treatments might be beneficial for sailors suffering from scurvy. It is a timely reminder of the value of randomised trials such as LENS. Some of the important features of trials are discussed at the following website:
https://www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/news/clinical-trials-day-2022
RECRUITMENT INTO THE LENS TRIAL IS COMPLETE!
Congratulations to NHS Forth Valley who enrolled the final participant to join the LENS trial (on 27th July 2021). Our amazing sites have randomized 1151 participants between them across all mainland NHS Scotland Health Boards.
THE CHALLENGES OF CONDUCTING CLINICAL TRIALS DURING A PANDEMIC
You may be interested to read the article by Dr Caroline Wood (University of Oxford) which describes some of the challenges that have arisen conducting clinical trials of treatments for chronic disease in the time of COVID-19. Various features of the LENS trial, and the heroic efforts of the study team in Oxford and across Scotland, have meant that the study has continued to progress well despite these difficult circumstances. You can find the article at:
questionnaires on visual function and quality of life
Participants who have been taking part in LENS for over 2 years will receive a couple of questionnaires in the post. The first questionnaire (called the VFQ-25) asks about your vision. The second questionnaire (called the EQ-5D) asks about your quality of life. These are the same questionnaires that you completed at the very start of the trial.
The information that we collect in these forms is very important to the trial, and we greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete them and send them back to us by FREEPOST. If you have any questions about how to complete either of the questionnaires, please do not hesitate to give us a call. Thank you for your ongoing support for LENS.
Newsletters
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