Content area

Abstract

All clinicians face the challenge of practicing evidence-based medicine and are confronted with data from a variety of studies, ranging from prospective randomized and registry studies to retrospective analyses. Unfortunately, the data frequently provide conflicting recommendations. How then should one interpret the information so that study findings can be applied directly in patient care? To evaluate the relevance of the abundance of studies published and how they apply to an individual patient, physicians must understand subtle nuances of study design and their effect on the interpretation of the results. In this Review, we examine the strengths and weaknesses of different study designs with the aim of providing the reader with a greater understanding how best to apply study results in the clinical setting.

Details

Title
From randomized trials to registry studies: translating data into clinical information
Author
Brown, Morgan L; Gersh, Bernard J; Holmes, David R; Bailey, Kent R; Sundt Iii, Thoralf M
Pages
613-620
Publication year
2008
Publication date
Oct 2008
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
ISSN
17434297
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1788337352
Copyright
Copyright Nature Publishing Group Oct 2008