Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22653805›Full record

ArticlePharmacoepidemiology and drug safety2012

Comparing the cohort design and the nested case-control design in the presence of both time-invariant and time-dependent treatment and competing risks: bias and precision.

Peter C Austin, Geoffrey M Anderson, Candemir Cigsar, Andrea Gruneir

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Risk factors of CVD mortality among the elderly in Beijing, 1992 - 2009: an 18-year cohort study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Peter C AustinInstitute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Health Management, Policy and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Geoffrey M Anderson
Candemir Cigsar
Andrea Gruneir
University of Toronto · CAWomen's College Hospital · CA

Funding

CIHR 86508PHS HHS 86508
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeObservational studies using electronic administrative healthcare databases are often used to estimate the effects of treatments and exposures. Traditionally, a cohort design has been used to estimate these effects, but increasingly, studies are using a nested case-control (NCC) design. The relative statistical efficiency of these two designs has not been examined in detail.

methodsWe used Monte Carlo simulations to compare these two designs in terms of the bias and precision of effect estimates. We examined three different settings: (A) treatment occurred at baseline, and there was a single outcome of interest; (B) treatment was time varying, and there was a single outcome; and C treatment occurred at baseline, and there was a secondary event that competed with the primary event of interest. Comparisons were made of percentage bias, length of 95% confidence interval, and mean squared error (MSE) as a combined measure of bias and precision.

resultsIn Setting A, bias was similar between designs, but the cohort design was more precise and had a lower MSE in all scenarios. In Settings B and C, the cohort design was more precise and had a lower MSE in all scenarios. In both Settings B and C, the NCC design tended to result in estimates with greater bias compared with the cohort design.

conclusionsWe conclude that in a range of settings and scenarios, the cohort design is superior in terms of precision and MSE. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Identifiers

PMID22653805
PMCPMC3471986
OpenAlexW1534104826

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.