ReviewJournal of clinical epidemiology2016
Specifying a target trial prevents immortal time bias and other self-inflicted injuries in observational analyses.
Review in Journal of clinical epidemiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 557 papers, 4 of them syntheses 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.
Associations of Early Add-On GLP-1 Receptor Agonist and SGLT2 Inhibitor Therapy With Mortality and Kidney Outcomes in Adults With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Across Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Stages 2-3: A Target-Trial Emulation
Early Left Ventricular unLoading by Impella (ECMELLA) or Intra-aortic Balloon Pump for Cardiogenic Shock in Patients on VA-ECMO
Who cites it
557 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sodium Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitors and Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.Drug safety · 2026Pooled it
- A review of the relationship between dimensions of alcohol consumption and the burden of disease: 2026 update including Mendelian randomisation studies.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Identifying, handling and impact of immortal time bias on addressing treatment effects in observational studies using routinely collected data.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of real-world evidence to assess health outcomes related to deprescribing medications in older adults: an International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology-endorsed systematic review of methodology.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Steroid-sparing drugs in children and young adults with nephrotic syndrome: a target trial emulation.Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of treatment initiation for secondary fracture prevention in the older population: Japanese Bone-fracture Osteoporosis in Late-stage population Database study (J-BOLD) - emulation of a randomized target trial.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2025Trial
- Effect of Initiation and Continuous Adherence to ARBs Versus ACEIs on Risk of Adjudicated Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Trial
- Amino acid infusion and acute kidney injury after aortic surgery: a multicenter observational study with target trial emulation.Renal failure · 2026Observational
- Upper Versus Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Hospitalizations: A National Analysis, 2016-2022.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2026Article
- Non-Selective Beta-Blocker Use Is Associated With Lower Mortality After Decompensation in Cirrhosis: A Nationwide Target Trial Emulation.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Observational
- Comparative effectiveness of alternative times to opioid agonist treatment taper initiation on taper completion and all-cause mortality among people with opioid use disorder: A retrospective population-based target trial emulation study in British Columbia, Canada, 2010-2020.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Observational
- Oncological and perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted radical cystectomy: a real-world cohort study emulating a target trial.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Article
- COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines as Antigen-Agnostic Immunomodulators: A Repurposing Perspective.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- COVID-19 vaccination around immune checkpoint inhibitor start and survival in a nationwide cohort of patients with cancer.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Addressing Immortal Time Bias in Estimating the Effect of Prophylactic Antiseizure Medication after Lobar Intracerebral Hemorrhage.Neurocritical care · 2026Article
- PSMA PET/CT-guided salvage elective nodal radiotherapy for nodal metastases after radical prostatectomy: a bi-institutional long-term outcome analysis.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Antibiotic treatment for non-specific upper respiratory tract infections and exacerbation risk in children with asthma: a target trial emulation study.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Clinical Characteristics, Healthcare Utilization, and Treatment Patterns Among People Living with HIV by Antiretroviral Therapy Use in the USA, 2021-2024.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2026Article
- Negatives about positivity and consistency as conditions for causal inference.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Statin Initiation and Mortality After Colorectal Cancer Treatment.JAMA network open · 2026Article
497 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Many analyses of observational data are attempts to emulate a target trial. The emulation of the target trial may fail when researchers deviate from simple principles that guide the design and analysis of randomized experiments. We review a framework to describe and prevent biases, including immortal time bias, that result from a failure to align start of follow-up, specification of eligibility, and treatment assignment. We review some analytic approaches to avoid these problems in comparative effectiveness or safety research.
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.