title: Sensible use of observational clinical data.
abstract: Observational data sets offer many potential advantages for medical research including their low cost, large size and generalisability. Because they are collected for clinical care and health care operations purposes, observational data sets have some limitations that must be considered in order to perform useful analyses. Sensible use of observational data sets can yield valuable insights, particularly when clinical trials are impractical.
authors.affiliation: Regenstrief Institute, Inc, Suite 2000, 410 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. joverhag@iupui.edu
authors.forename: J Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Overhage
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Overhage
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D057286:Electronic Health Records