The self controlled case series method

doi:10.1136/bmj.a1069

Published 28 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1069
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1069

Editorials

The self controlled case series method

A way to study the relation between antipsychotics and stroke

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The study by Douglas and Smeeth (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a1227) usesthe self controlled case series method to study the associationbetween exposure to antipsychotics and the risk of stroke.¹The study found that use of any antipsychotic agent significantlyincreased the risk of stroke (relative risk 1.73, 95% confidenceinterval 1.60 to 1.87). The risk of stroke in people with dementiataking any antipsychotic was higher (3.50, 2.97 to 4.12) thanin people without dementia taking similar medication (1.41,1.29 to 1.55).

The self controlled case series method, or case series methodfor short, can be used to study the association between an acuteevent and a transient exposure using data only on cases; noseparate controls are needed.²

The method uses exposure histories that are retrospectivelyascertained in cases to estimate the relative incidence. Thatis, the incidences of events within risk periods—windowsof time during or after experiencing . . . [Full text of this article]

Heather Whitaker, lecturer in statistics

¹ Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

h.j.whitaker@open.ac.uk

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Exposure to antipsychotics and risk of stroke: self controlled case series study: Ian J Douglas and Liam Smeeth
BMJ 2008 337: a1227. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]