Observational Methods in Comparative Effectiveness Research

Abstract Comparative effectiveness research (CER) may be defined informally as an assessment of available options for treating specific medical conditions in selected groups of patients. In this context, the most prominent features of CER are the various patient populations, medical ailments, and tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American journal of medicine Vol. 123; no. 12; pp. e16 - e23
Main Authors Concato, John, MD, MS, MPH, Lawler, Elizabeth V., DSc, Lew, Robert A., PhD, Gaziano, J. Michael, MD, MPH, Aslan, Mihaela, PhD, Huang, Grant D., MPH, PhD
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.2010
Subjects
Comparative effectiveness research
Comparative Effectiveness Research - methods
Comparative Effectiveness Research - organization & administration
Comparative Effectiveness Research - standards
Epidemiology
Evidence-Based Medicine
Humans
Internal Medicine
Observation
Qualitative Research
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Research Design
Research methods
Treatment Outcome
United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
United States
Comparative effectiveness research
Epidemiology
Evidence-based medicine
Research methods
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Summary:Abstract Comparative effectiveness research (CER) may be defined informally as an assessment of available options for treating specific medical conditions in selected groups of patients. In this context, the most prominent features of CER are the various patient populations, medical ailments, and treatment options involved in any particular project. Yet, each research investigation also has a corresponding study design or “architecture,” and in patient-oriented research a common distinction used to describe such designs are randomized controlled trials (RCTs) versus observational studies. The purposes of this overview, with regard to CER, are to (1) understand how observational studies can provide accurate results, comparable to RCTs; (2) recognize strategies used in selected newer methods for conducting observational studies; (3) review selected observational studies from the Veterans Health Administration; and (4) appreciate the importance of fundamental methodological principles when conducting or evaluating individual studies.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ISSN:0002-9343
1555-7162
DOI:10.1016/j.amjmed.2010.10.004