The spectrum of respiratory care research: prospective clinical research.

Prospective clinical research is given the greatest weight in evidence-based clinical practice recommendations, and therefore has the greatest potential to change care and help the largest number of patients. This article briefly describes the history of government regulation of prospective clinical research, how a prospective clinical research project is developed, and how the researcher seeks project approval from the institutional review board. We also evaluate 2 published studies with regard to ethical and regulatory matters that influenced the studies.