Letter

Observational studies

More than high standards needed

BMJ 2007; 335 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39381.434919.BE (Published 1 November 2007)
Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:900.2

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

  1. Guy Lloyd, consultant cardiologist
  1. Eastbourne District General Hospital, Eastbourne BN21 2UD
  1. lloyd.cardiol{at}btopenworld.com

    Von Elm et al provide a welcome set of criteria to judge prospective observational studies.1 What they do not include is the government health warning that should accompany such publications. The accompanying editorial highlights the usefulness of these studies to examine rare diseases,2 but such studies are often used for common illnesses like cardiovascular disease and cancer. End points are …

    Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment

    Subscribe

    Article access

    Article access for 1 day

    Purchase this article for £20 $30 €32*

    The PDF version can be downloaded as your personal record

    * Prices do not include VAT

    Rapid responses

    THIS WEEK'S POLL

    Read related article

    See previous polls

    BMJ most popular