Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23181419›Full record

ArticleBMC medical research methodology2012

Supplementing claims data with outpatient laboratory test results to improve confounding adjustment in effectiveness studies of lipid-lowering treatments.

Sebastian Schneeweiss, Jeremy A Rassen, Robert J Glynn, Jessica Myers, Gregory W Daniel, Joseph Singer, Daniel H Solomon, Seoyoung Kim, Kenneth J Rothman, Jun Liu and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
3.2field-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

22 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Modern sources of controls in case-control studies.American journal of epidemiology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Constructing Epidemiologic Cohorts from Electronic Health Record Data.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Gout and the Risk of Non-vertebral Fracture.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2017
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Observational
  20. Article
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

11 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Sebastian SchneeweissDivision of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02120, USA. schneeweiss@post.harvard.edu
Jeremy A Rassen
Robert J Glynn
Jessica Myers
Gregory W Daniel
Joseph Singer
Daniel H Solomon
Seoyoung Kim
Kenneth J Rothman
Jun Liu
Jerry Avorn
Brigham and Women's Hospital · USBrookings Institution · USRTI Health Solutions · USWilmington University · US

Funding

Analyzing Complex Healthcare Data to Determine Causality of Observed Drug EffectsR01LM010213 · NLM · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI SCHNEEWEISS, SEBASTIAN G. · 2009 to 2012
$1.6M
Cervical Dysplasia and Human Papillomavirus Infection in Rheumatoid Arthritis.K23AR059677 · NIAMS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI KIM, SEOYOUNG CATHERINE · 2010 to 2014
$680k
Comparative effectiveness methods for evaluation of in-hospital exposuresK01HS018088 · AHRQ · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI RASSEN, JEREMY A · 2009 to 2012
$537k
AHRQ HHS K01-HS018088CCR NIH HHS RC1-RR028231NHLBI NIH HHS RC4-HL106373NIAMS NIH HHS K23 AR059677NLM NIH HHS R01-LM010213
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAdjusting for laboratory test results may result in better confounding control when added to administrative claims data in the study of treatment effects. However, missing values can arise through several mechanisms.

methodsWe studied the relationship between availability of outpatient lab test results, lab values, and patient and system characteristics in a large healthcare database using LDL, HDL, and HbA1c in a cohort of initiators of statins or Vytorin (ezetimibe & simvastatin) as examples.

resultsAmong 703,484 patients 68% had at least one lab test performed in the 6 months before treatment. Performing an LDL test was negatively associated with several patient characteristics, including recent hospitalization (OR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.29-0.34), MI (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.69-0.85), or carotid revascularization (OR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.25-0.53). Patient demographics, diagnoses, and procedures predicted well who would have a lab test performed (AUC = 0.89 to 0.93). Among those with test results available claims data explained only 14% of variation.

conclusionsIn a claims database linked with outpatient lab test results, we found that lab tests are performed selectively corresponding to current treatment guidelines. Poor ability to predict lab values and the high proportion of missingness reduces the added value of lab tests for effectiveness research in this setting.

Indexed as

Insurance Claim ReviewAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAzetidinesDiagnostic Tests, RoutineDrug CombinationsEzetimibe, Simvastatin Drug CombinationFemaleGlycated HemoglobinHumansHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsHypolipidemic AgentsLipidsLipoproteins, HDLLipoproteins, LDLAzetidinesDrug CombinationsEzetimibe, Simvastatin Drug CombinationGlycated Hemoglobinhemoglobin A1c protein, humanHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsHypolipidemic AgentsLipidsLipoproteins, HDLLipoproteins, LDLSimvastatin

Identifiers

PMID23181419
PMCPMC3533513
OpenAlexW2130563867

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.