ReviewBMC medical research methodology2022
Real-world data: a brief review of the methods, applications, challenges and opportunities.
Review in BMC medical research methodology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 258 papers, 9 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
258 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 425 citations in OpenAlex.
- Applications of causal and structural equation modeling in epidemiology: a systematic and critical review.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Pooled it
- Real-World Long-Term Outcomes of First-Line Pembrolizumab in Advanced PD-L1 ≥ 50% NSCLC: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Use of Machine Learning for Analyzing Real-World Data in Disease Prediction and Management: Systematic Review.JMIR medical informatics · 2025Pooled it
- Multimorbidity and analgesic-related harms: a systematic review.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Pooled it
- Policy models for preventative interventions in cardiometabolic diseases: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled 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
- Sensor for sports applications: monitoring and assessment of intrinsic capacity enhancement in older adults during brisk walking.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Data Quality-Driven Improvement in Health Care: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Choosing real-world data for clinical and epidemiological research: methodological lessons from NHIRD and TriNetX-A narrative review.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- Did You Know That Confounding Could Bias Results Obtained within an Economic Evaluation?Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2026Article
- Bridging the data latency gap: automated extraction of genomic biomarkers from unstructured clinical documents to support real-world oncology data.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2026Article
- Real-World Use of Controlled Terminologies, Ontologies, and Vocabularies for Evidence Generation Across a Large International Observational Network: Challenges and Lessons Learned From a Mixed Method Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2026Article
- The replicability of real-world evidence for the surgical treatment of proximal humeral fractures in older patients evaluated using sceptical p-value.Scientific reports · 2026Observational
- Assessing environmental exposures in children: toward a comprehensive exposome approach.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- A five-phase evaluation framework for diagnostic and predictive medical artificial intelligence.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Comparative performance of large language models for appraising bias in real-world evidence studies.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2026Article
- Real-world survey of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Japan using a nationwide administrative claims database.Blood cell therapy · 2026Article
- Immediate and Sustained Improvements in Mood and Stress Associated With Yuna, an AI-Powered Digital Mental Health Intervention: Real-World Retrospective Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Finerenone exposure and ischaemic stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease: A propensity score-matched cohort study.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2026Article
198 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe increased adoption of the internet, social media, wearable devices, e-health services, and other technology-driven services in medicine and healthcare has led to the rapid generation of various types of digital data, providing a valuable data source beyond the confines of traditional clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and lab-based experiments.
methodsWe provide a brief overview on the type and sources of real-world data and the common models and approaches to utilize and analyze real-world data. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of using real-world data for evidence-based decision making This review does not aim to be comprehensive or cover all aspects of the intriguing topic on RWD (from both the research and practical perspectives) but serves as a primer and provides useful sources for readers who interested in this topic. RESULTS AND
conclusionsReal-world hold great potential for generating real-world evidence for designing and conducting confirmatory trials and answering questions that may not be addressed otherwise. The voluminosity and complexity of real-world data also call for development of more appropriate, sophisticated, and innovative data processing and analysis techniques while maintaining scientific rigor in research findings, and attentions to data ethics to harness the power of real-world data.
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.