ArticleCurrent epidemiology reports2018
The importance and implications of comparator selection in pharmacoepidemiologic research.
Article in Current epidemiology reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 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
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Methodological challenges using routine clinical care data for real-world evidence: a rapid review utilizing a systematic literature search and focus group discussion.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of exogenous testosterone on cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and thromboembolic adverse events: results of three complementary research designs.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Caution in handling switchers in pharmacoepidemiologic studies estimating treatment effects: the example of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and inflammatory bowel disease.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Pharmacological Interventions in the Management of Temporomandibular Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Acta stomatologica Croatica · 2026Article
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs versus acetaminophen and risk of venous thromboembolism: An active comparator new user cohort study.Journal of internal medicine · 2026Article
- Comparative Safety of Different Antibiotic Regimens for the Treatment of Outpatient Community-Acquired Pneumonia Among Otherwise Healthy Adults.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Large-scale Empirical Identification of Candidate Comparators for Pharmacoepidemiological Studies.Drug safety · 2025Article
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection Treated with Direct-Acting Antivirals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2025Article
- Vancomycin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Intensive Care Patients: A Target Trial Emulation Study Using Multicenter Routinely Collected Data.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2025Article
- Associations of potentially inappropriate medications in older adults with mortality and hospitalizations: methodological challenges in pharmacoepidemiology.European journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Association of a Veterans Affairs Toxic Exposure Medical Evaluation with Symptom-related Care.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2025Article
- First-Trimester Antibiotic Use for Urinary Tract Infection and Risk of Congenital Malformations.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Evaluating the agreement between sensitivity and primary analyses in observational studies using routinely collected healthcare data: a meta-epidemiology study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors and myocarditis in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a nationwide cohort study.Cardio-oncology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Association of fluoroquinolones with the risk of spontaneous pneumothorax: nationwide case-time-control study.Thorax · 2025Article
- Regulatory-required post-marketing database studies in Japan could be leveraged to assess important potential risks as well as identified risks.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Drug-Drug Interactions in Pharmacoepidemiologic Research.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2025Review
- Core Concepts in Pharmacoepidemiology: New-User Designs.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2024Review
- Bariatric surgery and all-cause mortality: A methodological review of studies using a non-surgical comparator.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2024Review
- Risk of Mortality Associated with Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use Including Opioids in Older Adults.Drug safety · 2024Article
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
Abstract
purpose of reviewPharmacoepidemiologic studies employing large databases are critical to evaluating the effectiveness and safety of drug exposures in large and diverse populations. Because treatment is not randomized, researchers must select a relevant comparison group for the treatment of interest. The comparator group can consist of individuals initiating: (1) a similarly indicated treatment (active comparator), (2) a treatment used for a different indication (inactive comparator) or (3) no particular treatment (non-initiators). Herein we review recent literature and describe considerations and implications of comparator selection in pharmacoepidemiologic studies. RECENT
findingsComparator selection depends on the scientific question and feasibility constraints. Because pharmacoepidemiologic studies rely on the choice to initiate or not initiate a specific treatment, rather than randomization, they are at-risk for confounding related to the comparator choice including: by indication, disease severity and frailty. We describe forms of confounding specific to pharmacoepidemiologic studies and discuss each comparator along with informative examples and a case study. We provide commentary on potential issues relevant to comparator selection in each study, highlighting the importance of understanding the population in whom the treatment is given and how patient characteristics are associated with the outcome. SUMMARY: Advanced statistical techniques may be insufficient for reducing confounding in observational studies. Evaluating the extent to which comparator selection may mitigate or induce systematic bias is a critical component of pharmacoepidemiologic studies.
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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.