Clinical endpoint
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2007-04-02T16:44:29Z
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In a [[clinical trial|research trial]], a '''clinical endpoint''' refers to a [[disease]], [[symptom]], or [[Medical sign|sign]] that constitutes one of the target outcomes of the trial. The results of a clinical trial generally indicate the number of people enrolled who reached the pre-determined clinical endpoint during the study interval, compared with the overall number of people who were enrolled. Once a patient reaches the endpoint, he or she is generally excluded from further experimental intervention (the origin of the term ''endpoint'').
For example, a clinical trial investigating the ability of a [[medication]] to prevent [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] might use ''chest pain'' as a clinical endpoint. Any patient enrolled in the trial who develops chest pain over the course of the trial, then, would be counted as having reached that clinical endpoint. The results would ultimately reflect the fraction of patients who reached the endpoint of having developed chest pain, compared with the overall number of people enrolled.
When an experiment involves a [[control group]], the fraction of individuals who reach the clinical endpoint after an intervention is compared with the fraction of individuals in the control group who reached the same clinical endpoint, thus reflecting the ability of the intervention to prevent the endpoint in question.
Some studies will examine the incidence of a ''combined endpoint'', which can merge a variety of outcomes into one group. For example, the heart attack study above may report the incidence of the ''combined endpoint'' of chest pain, [[myocardial infarction]], or death.
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