Health Information Technology: A Guide to Study Design For the Perplexed

This study, which was widely reported in the news media and influenced policy, found significant differences in the rate of flu-related deaths and hospitalizations among the vaccinated elderly compared with their unvaccinated peers. Although it controlled for certain easy-to-measure differences between the 2 groups, such as age, sex, and diabetes, it did not account for other more difficult-to-measure “healthy user” factors that affect the well-being of the elderly, such as their socioeconomic status, diet, exercise, and adherence to medical treatments and advice. The cohort design has long been a staple in studies of treatment outcomes. Because such studies often do not account for people’s pre-existing health practices, they tend to inflate or exaggerate the benefits of treatments (eg, the flu vaccine) while downplaying harms (eg, HRT). In general, we should be skeptical about the benefits of health care interventions (such as the use of drugs or vaccines) reported in cohort studies. On the other hand, the findings of cohort studies related to harms and side effects of medications are often more credible because patients and their physicians do not “choose” to be harmed and tend to avoid known harms. Also, the same healthier people are less likely to have side effects or quit medications. Finally, harms and complications are far rarer than the possible benefits. For instance, whereas the benefits of the flu vaccine can be shown in studies of a few thousand par...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs