title: Designing premarket observational comparative studies using existing data as controls: challenges and opportunities.
abstract: Due to the special nature of medical device clinical studies, observational (nonrandomized) comparative studies play important roles in the premarket safety/effectiveness evaluation of medical devices. While historical data collected in earlier investigational device exemption studies of a previously approved medical device have been used to form control groups in comparative studies, high-quality registry data are emerging to provide opportunities for the premarket evaluation of new devices. However, in such studies, various biases could be introduced in every stage and aspect of study and may compromise the objectivity of study design and validity of study results. In this article, challenges and opportunities in the design of such studies using propensity score methodology are discussed from regulatory perspectives.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Devices and Radiological Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration , Silver Spring , Maryland , USA.
authors.forename: Lilly Q
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yunling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D035061:Control Groups; D018795:Device Approval / Q000592:standards; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D006801:Humans; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057216:Propensity Score; D012107:Research Design; D018401:Sample Size; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Observational comparative studies; Propensity score; Study design; Use of existing data