Target Trial Emulation

2022/12/12 by Miguel A. Hernán, Wei Wang, David E. Leaf · 30 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Mathematics · #Advanced Causal Inference Techniques #Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life #Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials

paper · doi:10.1001/jama.2022.21383

openalex publication_date 2022/12/12 · openalex created_date 2022/12/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

This Guide to Statistics and Methods describes the use of target trial emulation to design an observational study so it preserves the advantages of a randomized clinical trial, points out the limitations of the method, and provides an example of its use.

Citations

• Using Big Data to Emulate a Target Trial When a Randomized Trial Is Not Available: Table 1.
• Specifying a target trial prevents immortal time bias and other self-inflicted injuries in observational analyses

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• Renal Outcomes With Potassium-Competitive Acid Blockers Versus Proton Pump Inhibitors in CKD
• Inference procedures in sequential trial emulation with survival outcomes: comparing confidence intervals based on the sandwich variance estimator, bootstrap and jackknife
• Lithium versus anticonvulsants and the risk of physical disorders – Results from a comprehensive long-term nation-wide population-based study emulating a target trial
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• Target Trial Emulation with the R Package TTE: A Tutorial and Methodological Guide
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• GLP‐1 RA Plus SGLT2i Versus Monotherapy in MASLD and Type 2 Diabetes: Three Pairwise Target Trial Emulations

Related

• Target trial emulation: teaching epidemiology and beyond
• Implementation of the trial emulation approach in medical research: a scoping review
• TrialEmulation: An R Package to Emulate Target Trials for Causal Analysis of Observational Time-to-event Data
• The R.O.A.D. to clinical trial emulation
• Are Target Trial Emulations the Gold Standard for Observational Studies?