ArticleBMC medical research methodology2001
The paired availability design for historical controls.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Statistical issues in randomized trials of cancer screening.BMC medical research methodology · 2002Guideline
- Simple Methods for Evaluating 4 Types of Biomarkers: Surrogate Endpoint, Prognostic, Predictive, and Cancer Screening.Biomarker insights · 2020Review
- Latent class instrumental variables: a clinical and biostatistical perspective.Statistics in medicine · 2016Article
- Comparative effectiveness research on patients with acute ischemic stroke using Markov decision processes.BMC medical research methodology · 2012Article
- Clarifying the role of principal stratification in the paired availability design.The international journal of biostatistics · 2011Article
- Improving the biomarker pipeline to develop and evaluate cancer screening tests.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2009Article
- Comparing breast cancer mortality rates before-and-after a change in availability of screening in different regions: extension of the paired availability design.BMC medical research methodology · 2004Article
- Methodology for Evaluating a Partially Controlled Longitudinal Treatment Using Principal Stratification, With Application to a Needle Exchange Program.Journal of the American Statistical Association · 2004Article
- Randomized trials, generalizability, and meta-analysis: graphical insights for binary outcomes.BMC medical research methodology · 2003Article
- Aortic Center: specialized care improves outcomes and decreases mortality.Revista brasileira de cirurgia cardiovascular : orgao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia CardiovascularObservational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough a randomized trial represents the most rigorous method of evaluating a medical intervention, some interventions would be extremely difficult to evaluate using this study design. One alternative, an observational cohort study, can give biased results if it is not possible to adjust for all relevant risk factors.
methodsA recently developed and less well-known alternative is the paired availability design for historical controls. The paired availability design requires at least 10 hospitals or medical centers in which there is a change in the availability of the medical intervention. The statistical analysis involves a weighted average of a simple "before" versus "after" comparison from each hospital or medical center that adjusts for the change in availability.
resultsWe expanded requirements for the paired availability design to yield valid inference. (1) The hospitals or medical centers serve a stable population. (2) Other aspects of patient management remain constant over time. (3) Criteria for outcome evaluation are constant over time. (4) Patient preferences for the medical intervention are constant over time. (5) For hospitals where the intervention was available in the "before" group, a change in availability in the "after group" does not change the effect of the intervention on outcome.
conclusionThe paired availability design has promise for evaluating medical versus surgical interventions, in which it is difficult to recruit patients to a randomized trial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.