ArticleBMC medical research methodology2019
Bias in pharmacoepidemiologic studies using secondary health care databases: a scoping review.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled 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
- Chemoprevention of Barrett's Esophagus: a Systematic Review and Comprehensive Assessment of Bias.Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus · 2025Pooled it
- Genetically proxied therapeutic inhibition of antihypertensive drug targets and risk of pancreatic cancer: a mendelian randomization analysis.BMC cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Methodological evaluation of bias in observational coronavirus disease 2019 studies on drug effectiveness.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Evidence synthesis based on non-randomised studies-a critical review of studies leading to conclusions on fall risk properties of loop diuretics/beta-blockers.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- Novel genetic insights into causal effects of potential metformin targets and immune mediation on sepsis.Biology direct · 2026Article
- Comparative Effectiveness and Outcomes of Nebivolol Versus Other Beta Blockers in Patients With Hypertension: A Multicenter Cohort Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Evolution of the profiles of new psychotropic drug users before and during the COVID-19 crisis: an original longitudinal approach through multichannel sequence analysis using the French health-care database.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- A scoping review of real-world evidence generation methods to estimate the safety of type 2 diabetes medications on fracture risk.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026Article
- Article
- Pharmacoepidemiology unpacked: a roadmap for junior researchers.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Risk factors for hypoglycemia in hospitalized patients with diabetes: a retrospective analysis of electronic medical record data.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Addressing implicit bias in pharmacy: strategies for equitable patient care and improved medication outcomes.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Sequential analysis for post-marketing drug safety surveillance using routinely collected electronic healthcare data: a scoping review.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2026Article
- Risk of serious bacterial infections in inflammatory rheumatic or bowel disease patients during biological therapies: nationwide Danish cohort study.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Investigating the genetic effects of metformin-related targets on IgA nephropathy using Mendelian randomization.Renal failure · 2025Article
- Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and risk of acute pancreatitis: a matched cohort study.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Causal association between mitochondrial genes and colorectal cancer: a multi-omics Mendelian randomization study.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Management of severe immune-related adverse events and outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.The oncologist · 2025Article
14 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
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe availability of clinical and therapeutic data drawn from medical records and administrative databases has entailed new opportunities for clinical and epidemiologic research. However, these databases present inherent limitations which may render them prone to new biases. We aimed to conduct a structured review of biases specific to observational clinical studies based on secondary databases, and to propose strategies for the mitigation of those biases.
methodsScoping review of the scientific literature published during the period 2000-2018 through an automated search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science, supplemented with manually cross-checking of reference lists. We included opinion essays, methodological reviews, analyses or simulation studies, as well as letters to the editor or retractions, the principal objective of which was to highlight the existence of some type of bias in pharmacoepidemiologic studies using secondary databases.
resultsA total of 117 articles were included. An increasing trend in the number of publications concerning the potential limitations of secondary databases was observed over time and across medical research disciplines. Confounding was the most reported category of bias (63.2% of articles), followed by selection and measurement biases (47.0% and 46.2% respectively). Confounding by indication (32.5%), unmeasured/residual confounding (28.2%), outcome misclassification (28.2%) and "immortal time" bias (25.6%) were the subcategories most frequently mentioned.
conclusionsSuboptimal use of secondary databases in pharmacoepidemiologic studies has introduced biases in the studies, which may have led to erroneous conclusions. Methods to mitigate biases are available and must be considered in the design, analysis and interpretation phases of studies using these data sources.
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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.