Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform by Marc Lipsitch, Nicholas Evans, Alexandra L Phelan, Stephany N Duda, Annette Rid, Colin J Carlson, Jennifer B Rosen, Natalie E Dean, John Barugahare, Maya B Mathur, Emily E Ricotta, Fausto A Bustos Carrillo, Samuel Angelli-Nichols, Adia Benton, Emma Chang-Rabley, Lisa Federer, Mary-Margaret A Fill, Elizabeth C LeRoy, Natalie M Linton, Lauren Sauer, Sheena G Sullivan, Mackenzie Zendt

“…This paper opens with a discussion of how well-designed observational studies contribute to biomedical evidence and provides examples from across the clinical literature of how these methods generate hypotheses for future research and uncover otherwise unattainable insights by providing examples from across the clinical literature. …”
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Comparison of handheld rebound tonometry with Goldmann applanation tonometry in children with glaucoma: a cohort study by Catey Bunce, Peng Tee Khaw, John Brookes, Maria Papadopoulos, Amanda Lewis, Poornima Rai, Renata Puertas, Annegret Hella Dahlmann-Noor, Shenille Tabasa-Lim, Ahmed El-Karmouty, Mustafa Kadhim, Nicholas Kloster Wride, Dawn Grosvenor

“…Objective To test agreement of two methods to measure intraocular pressure (IOP): rebound tonometry (RBT) and gold standard Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) in children with glaucoma.Design Observational prospective cohort study.Setting Tertiary paediatric glaucoma clinic at a single centre.Participants 102 individuals attending a paediatric glaucoma clinic, mean (SD) age 11.85 (3.17), of whom 53 were male.Primary and secondary outcome measures Intraocular pressure, central corneal thickness, child preference for measurement method.Results Limits of agreement for intraobserver and interobserver were, respectively, (−2.71, 2.98) mm Hg and (−5.75, 5.97) mm Hg. …”
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Negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a study in a large clinical sample of patients using a novel automated method by Robert Stewart, Hitesh Shetty, Matthew Broadbent, Angus Roberts, Rashmi Patel, Philip McGuire, Richard D Hayes, Nishamali Jayatilleke, Genevieve Gorrell, Chin-Kuo Chang, Richard Jackson, Nadia Foskett, Caroline Johnston

“…Objectives To identify negative symptoms in the clinical records of a large sample of patients with schizophrenia using natural language processing and assess their relationship with clinical outcomes.Design Observational study using an anonymised electronic health record case register.Setting South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM), a large provider of inpatient and community mental healthcare in the UK.Participants 7678 patients with schizophrenia receiving care during 2011.Main outcome measures Hospital admission, readmission and duration of admission.Results 10 different negative symptoms were ascertained with precision statistics above 0.80. 41% of patients had 2 or more negative symptoms. …”
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Standard reference values of the postural control in healthy young female adults in Germany: an observational study by David A Groneberg, Daniela Ohlendorf, Charlotte Doerry, Vanessa Fisch, Sebastian Schamberger, Christina Erbe, Eileen M Wanke

“…Our aim is to measure standard values for the postural control of young healthy women.Design Observational study.Setting Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main.Participants 106 healthy German female subjects aged between 21 and 30 years (25±2.7 years) were measured. …”
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On the time spent preparing grant proposals: an observational study of Australian researchers by Nicholas Graves, Adrian G Barnett, Philip Clarke, Danielle L Herbert

“…Objective To estimate the time spent by the researchers for preparing grant proposals, and to examine whether spending more time increase the chances of success.Design Observational study.Setting The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia.Participants Researchers who submitted one or more NHMRC Project Grant proposals in March 2012.Main outcome measures Total researcher time spent preparing proposals; funding success as predicted by the time spent.Results The NHMRC received 3727 proposals of which 3570 were reviewed and 731 (21%) were funded. …”
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Isokinetic Assessment of Knee Flexor and Extensor Strength and Lower Extremity Flexibility Assessment of an NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Team by Savanna Perkins, Paul Canavan

“… # Purpose The purpose of this study was to conduct isokinetic and flexibility assessments to screen male soccer athletes at risk of sustaining a hamstring injury. # Study Design Observational cohort # Methods Standardized isokinetic testing of concentric muscle performance, measured by peak torque of the quadriceps and hamstrings and hamstring-to-quadriceps ratios, was conducted using a Biodex isokinetic dynamometer at speeds of 60 and 180°/sec. …”
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Factors associated with prolonged length of stay following cardiac surgery in a major referral hospital in Oman: a retrospective observational study by Paul Aylin, Ahmed Almashrafi, Hilal Alsabti, Mirdavron Mukaddirov, Baskaran Balan

“…The second was to devise a predictive model for prolonged LOS in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) based on preoperative factors available at admission and to compare it against two existing cardiac stratification systems.Design Observational retrospective study.Settings A tertiary hospital in Oman.Participants All adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery at a major referral hospital in Oman between 2009 and 2013.Results 30.5% of the patients had prolonged LOS (≥11 days) after surgery, while 17% experienced prolonged ICU LOS (≥5 days). …”
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Standard reference values of the upper body posture in healthy young female adults in Germany: an observational study by Daniela Ohlendorf, Charlotte Doerry, Vanessa Fisch, Sebastian Schamberger, Gerhard Oremek, Hanns Ackermann, Johannes Schulze

“…However, standard values have been published for healthy male adults but not for female adults.Design Observational study.Setting Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main.Participants 106healthy female volunteers (21–30 years old; 25.1±2.7 years) were included. …”
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Analysis of epidemiological trends and risk factors in high-risk areas for pulmonary tuberculosis: an observational longitudinal study in Xinjiang, China by Liping Zhang, Di Wu, Yanling Zheng, Yaoqin Lu, Salawati Haritebieke, Guangchao Liu

“…Objective To explore the spatial and temporal variations in the long-term risk of developing tuberculosis (TB) and the factors influencing it in order to contribute to the goal of eradicating TB.Design Observational longitudinal study.Setting Xinjiang, China, 2005–2019.Primary and secondary outcome measures Comparison of TB incidence across age, period, cohort and space using socioeconomic (including gross domestic product per capita, population density, public budget revenue and total retail sales of consumer goods), public health (including the number of hospital beds, health technicians and basic medical insurance for urban residents) and environmental variables (PM2.5, mean air temperature, mean wind speed, mean relative humidity and precipitation). …”
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Effectiveness and safety of metformin in 51 675 patients with type 2 diabetes and different levels of renal function: a cohort study from the Swedish National Diabetes Register by Katarina Eeg-Olofsson, Soffia Gudbjörnsdottir, Ann-Marie Svensson, Björn Eliasson, Linus Schioler, Björn Zethelius, Nils Ekström, Jan Cederholm, Junmei Miao Jonasson

“…Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of metformin use in clinical practice in a large sample of pharmacologically treated patients with type 2 diabetes and different levels of renal function.Design Observational study between July 2004 and December 2010, mean follow-up 3.9 years.Setting Hospital outpatient clinics and primary care in Sweden.Participants 51 675 men and women with type 2 diabetes, registered in the Swedish National Diabetes Register, and on continuous glucose-lowering treatment with oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHAs) or insulin.Main outcome measures Risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD), all-cause mortality and acidosis/serious infection, associated with each treatment regimens, were analysed in all patients and in subgroups with different estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) intervals. …”
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