@article{ref1,
title="Specifying a target trial prevents immortal time bias and other self-inflicted injuries in observational analyses",
journal="Journal of clinical epidemiology",
year="2016",
author="Hernán, Miguel A. and Sauer, Brian C. and Hernández-Díaz, Sonia and Platt, Robert and Shrier, Ian",
volume="79",
number="",
pages="70-75",
abstract="Many analyses of observational data are attempts to emulate a target trial. The emulation of the target trial may fail when researchers deviate from simple principles that guide the design and analysis of randomized experiments. We review a framework to describe and prevent biases, including immortal time bias, that result from a failure to align start of follow-up, specification of eligibility, and treatment assignment. We review some analytic approaches to avoid these problem in comparative effectiveness or safety research.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0895-4356",
doi="10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.04.014",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.04.014"
}