ArticleBMJ open2024
What is the carbon footprint of academic clinical trials? A study of hotspots in 10 trials.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Measuring the carbon footprint of clinical research activities: a scoping review of measurement tools and methods.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Article
- Do remote clinical trials offer carbon savings while maintaining research quality? Experiences from the Eczema Bathing Study.Skin health and disease · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Clinical Research: A Full Life Cycle Analysis of a French Academic Randomised Clinical Trial.Fundamental & clinical pharmacology · 2026Article
- Time Toxicity of Endocrine-based Oral CDK4/6 Inhibitor Therapies.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2026Article
- Assessing the carbon footprint of French academic clinical trials using the NIHR method.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Reporting of environmental outcomes in randomised clinical trials: a protocol for a scoping review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Climate change and health in planetary perspectives: challenges for the health sector.Environmental analysis, health and toxicology · 2025Article
- Carbon footprint of a sample of clinical trials for people with neurological disorders: cross-sectional analysis.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Climate change and cancer care: impacts and implications for patients and healthcare professionals.Ecancermedicalscience · 2025Article
- Measuring the carbon footprint of Colchicine for Long COVID - a multicenter trial from India.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
30 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClinical trials are fundamental to healthcare, however, they also contribute to anthropogenic climate change. Following previous work to develop and test a method and guidance to calculate the carbon footprint of clinical trials, we have now applied the guidance to 10 further UK and international, academically sponsored clinical trials to continue the identification of hotspots and opportunities for lower carbon trial design.
methods10 collaborating clinical trial units (CTUs) self-identified and a trial was selected from their portfolio to represent a variety of designs, health areas and interventions. Trial activity data was collated by trial teams across 10 modules spanning trial setup through to closure, then multiplied by emission factors provided in the guidance to calculate the carbon footprint. Feedback was collected from trial teams on the process, experience and ease of use of the guidance.
resultsWe footprinted 10 trials: 6 investigational medicinal product trials, 1 nutritional, 1 surgical, 1 health surveillance and one complex intervention trial. Six of these were completed and four ongoing (two in follow-up and two recruiting). The carbon footprint of the 10 trials ranged from 16 to 765 tonnes CO DISCUSSION: There are opportunities to reduce the impact of trials across all modules, particularly trial-specific meetings and travel, patient assessments and laboratory practice. A trial's carbon footprint should be considered at the design stage, but work is required to make this common place.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.