Another quick question from a newbie

[lisab3424]

Dear respected lab rats,

I'm thinking of participating in a study that involves the following:

One screening visit
A four day qualification session
15 day treatment
One follow up session

What is a four day qualification session? How is it different from screening.

They are looking for people with some experience taking sedatives.
What could they possibly do in a 15 day treatment? Just wondering how many needles I should expect and why it isn't just one weekend.
I've only really heard about the weekend studies and nothing of this length.

Thanks

[johnjalr]

Generally, 'qualification sessions' in these sorts of studies are used to weed out folks who don't fit their research profile. For example, some studies on street drugs are rather lucrative, and the last thing the pharmaceutical firm wants is a bunch of fake druggies turning up to collect cheques. Such qualification sessions may include questionnaires and interviews; they might even check your body for crack-pipe burns, for all I know.

[lisab3424]

Interesting. It is a study targeted towards recreational drug users. I'm not one, but I did take an a long time ago for insomnia. I wonder if they'll disqualify me.