A yardstick, chosen early
An endpoint might be a blood pressure reading after twelve weeks, the number of days until symptoms ease, or a score on a questionnaire. Whatever it is, the protocol names it before anyone takes part, so the study is judged on the question it set out to ask.
Primary and secondary
Most studies name one primary endpoint and several secondary ones. The primary endpoint decides whether the study met its goal. Secondary endpoints are useful, but because there are many of them, a single striking secondary result is treated with caution.
Surrogate endpoints
Sometimes a study measures a lab value or scan result that is expected to track a longer-term outcome. These surrogate endpoints can speed research up, but they are a stand-in, not the outcome itself.
Where to find them
Public registries such as ClinicalTrials.gov list the outcome measures for registered studies. Reading them is a good way to see what a study is really trying to learn.
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