Card studies for observational research in practice.
OBJECTIVE
Observational studies that collect patient-level survey data at the point-of-care are often called card studies. Card studies have been used to describe clinical problems, management, and outcomes in primary care for more than 30 years. In this article we describe 2 types of card studies and the methods for conducting them.


METHODS
We undertook a descriptive review of card studies conducted in 3 Colorado practice-based research networks and several other networks throughout the United States. We summarized experiences of the State Networks of Colorado Ambulatory Practices and Partners (SNOCAP).


RESULTS
Card studies can be designed to study specific conditions or care (clinicians complete a card when they encounter patients who meet inclusion criteria) and to determine trends and prevalence of conditions (clinicians complete a card on all patients seen during a period). Data can be collected from clinicians and patients and can be linked.


CONCLUSIONS
Card studies provide cross-sectional descriptive data about clinical care, knowledge and behavior, perception of care, and prevalence of conditions. Card studies remain a robust method for describing primary care.
Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA. Jack.westfall@ucdenver.edu
John M
JM
Westfall
Linda
L
Zittleman
Elizabeth W
EW
Staton
Bennett
B
Parnes
Peter C
PC
Smith
Linda J
LJ
Niebauer
Douglas H
DH
Fernald
Javan
J
Quintela
Rebecca F
RF
Van Vorst
L Miriam
LM
Dickinson
Wilson D
WD
Pace
D003120:Colorado; D003625:Data Collection / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010361:Patients; D010820:Physicians; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D013223:Statistics as Topic
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