Table 1.

Results Database Purposes for Various Groups

Results Database Purpose	Group That Benefits
Provide public record of basic study results in a standardized format	Researchers, journal editors, institutional review boards, and ethicists
Promote fulfilling of ethical responsibility to participants; use of research results to contribute to medical knowledge	Patients, general public, and research community
Mitigate “publication” and “outcome reporting” biases	Users of medical literature
Facilitate systematic reviews and other analyses of the research literature	Researchers and policymakers