TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Specifying a target trial prevents immortal time bias and other self-inflicted injuries in observational analyses
JO  - Journal of clinical epidemiology
A1  - Hernán, Miguel A.
A1  - Sauer, Brian C.
A1  - Hernández-Díaz, Sonia
A1  - Platt, Robert
A1  - Shrier, Ian
SP  - 70
EP  - 75
VL  - 79
IS  - 
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 0895-4356
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.04.014
ID  - ref1
ER  -