By taking part in clinical trials, patients play a vital role in researching new treatments for pulmonary hypertension – and it’s important their voices are heard when it comes to designing them.
The PHA UK has an ongoing partnership with researchers from the University of Cambridge and Royal Papworth Hospital to ensure clinical trials consider the needs of patients and their loved ones, and in Spring 2022, we teamed up to conduct a collaborative survey aimed at understanding what matters to this community.
With implications for all future research, the survey was conducted with the specific aim of shaping the design of a new trial called StratosPHere.
This trial will investigate whether two specific drugs – phenylbutyrate and hydroxychloroquine – are beneficial to patients with pulmonary hypertension. These drugs are currently being used to treat other conditions.
There are lots of new and innovative ways the team hope to carry out this research, and this survey asked for opinions on these methods and much more.
The findings will now directly inform the protocol and delivery of this trial, as well as influencing the design of other PH trials in the future.