Effectiveness Research with Longitudinal Healthcare Databases

EPI 253 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Large longitudinal healthcare databases have become important tools for studying the utilization patterns and clinical effectiveness of medical products and interventions in a wide variety of care settings and for evaluating the impact of clinical programs or policy changes. This course will prepare students to identify and use longitudinal databases in their own research. Strengths and limitations of large longitudinal healthcare databases that are commonly used for effectiveness research will be considered. Special attention will be devoted to nationally representative databases and local electronic medical record data sources that are readily available to new investigators.

The centerpiece of the course is a student project which includes conducting a pilot feasibility analysis and developing a study protocol. Students will work with a large longitudinal insurance claims database and with easy-to-use statistical software to develop inclusion and exclusion criteria, produce population descriptive, and implement follow-up models and risk adjustment methodologies resulting in multivariable adjusted effect estimates. Practical issues in obtaining, linking, and analyzing large databases will be emphasized throughout the course, and key analytic issues will be addressed, including design considerations and multivariable risk-adjustment.

The course does not require specific programming skills. It is focused on analytic principles and their application to database research rather than mathematical details. It requires an understanding of epidemiologic study designs and typical analysis strategies.