Evidence map›Paper›PMID 10861324›Full record

ArticleThe New England journal of medicine2000

A comparison of observational studies and randomized, controlled trials.

K Benson, A J Hartz

Registry-linked trialAbstract readComparative Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The New England journal of medicine, 2000. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04212390 (Personalized Medicine Program on Myelodysplastic Syndromes), which is not on this map. Cited by 520 papers, 38 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
520citing papers in PubMed, 38 pooled it
438.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04212390 completednot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Personalized Medicine Program on Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Characterization of the Patient's Genome for Clinical Decision Making and Systematic Collection of Real World Data to Improve Quality of Health Care

TypeobservationalSponsorFondazione Italiana Sindromi Mielodisplastiche-ETSRan2020 to 2024Enrolled1,000ConditionsMDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

520 citing papers in PubMed, 38 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 2,340 citations in OpenAlex.

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  9. Strength of association between comorbidities and asthma: a meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023
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  11. Is the routine use of systemic antibiotics after spine surgery warranted? A systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022
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  16. Transfusion thresholds for guiding red blood cell transfusion.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
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  20. Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in COVID-19 patients: a living systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021
    Pooled it

460 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

K BensonDepartment of Family Medicine, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City 52242-1097, USA.
A J Hartz
University of Iowa · US

Funding

SHORT-TERM TRAINING: STUDENTS IN HEALTH PROF. SCHOOLST35HL007485 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI ROGHAIR, ROBERT D · 1985 to 2019
$4.3M
PREDOCTORAL TRAINING IN FAMILY MEDICINED15PE087007 · PE · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI LEVY, BARCEY THURSTON · 1985 to 1997
–
ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENTS OF FAMILY MEDICINED32PE010195 · PE · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI KLIGMAN, EVAN W · 1997 to 1997
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BHP HRSA HHS 5D32PE10195-02BHP HRSA HHS PD15 PE87007NHLBI NIH HHS 2T35HL07485-21
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFor many years it has been claimed that observational studies find stronger treatment effects than randomized, controlled trials. We compared the results of observational studies with those of randomized, controlled trials.

methodsWe searched the Abridged Index Medicus and Cochrane data bases to identify observational studies reported between 1985 and 1998 that compared two or more treatments or interventions for the same condition. We then searched the Medline and Cochrane data bases to identify all the randomized, controlled trials and observational studies comparing the same treatments for these conditions. For each treatment, the magnitudes of the effects in the various observational studies were combined by the Mantel-Haenszel or weighted analysis-of-variance procedure and then compared with the combined magnitude of the effects in the randomized, controlled trials that evaluated the same treatment.

resultsThere were 136 reports about 19 diverse treatments, such as calcium-channel-blocker therapy for coronary artery disease, appendectomy, and interventions for subfertility. In most cases, the estimates of the treatment effects from observational studies and randomized, controlled trials were similar. In only 2 of the 19 analyses of treatment effects did the combined magnitude of the effect in observational studies lie outside the 95 percent confidence interval for the combined magnitude in the randomized, controlled trials.

conclusionsWe found little evidence that estimates of treatment effects in observational studies reported after 1984 are either consistently larger than or qualitatively different from those obtained in randomized, controlled trials.

Indexed as

Cohort StudiesRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch DesignTherapeuticsBone DensityCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHeart DiseasesHormone Replacement TherapyHumansOdds RatioRetrospective StudiesTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID10861324
OpenAlexW2616141209

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.