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. 2006 Jan-Feb;13(1):16-23.
doi: 10.1197/jamia.M1749. Epub 2005 Oct 12.

The use and interpretation of quasi-experimental studies in medical informatics

Anthony D Harris  1 , Jessina C McGregor, Eli N Perencevich, Jon P Furuno, Jingkun Zhu, Dan E Peterson, Joseph Finkelstein
Affiliations

The use and interpretation of quasi-experimental studies in medical informatics

Anthony D Harris et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2006 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Quasi-experimental study designs, often described as nonrandomized, pre-post intervention studies, are common in the medical informatics literature. Yet little has been written about the benefits and limitations of the quasi-experimental approach as applied to informatics studies. This paper outlines a relative hierarchy and nomenclature of quasi-experimental study designs that is applicable to medical informatics intervention studies. In addition, the authors performed a systematic review of two medical informatics journals, the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) and the International Journal of Medical Informatics (IJMI), to determine the number of quasi-experimental studies published and how the studies are classified on the above-mentioned relative hierarchy. They hope that future medical informatics studies will implement higher level quasi-experimental study designs that yield more convincing evidence for causal links between medical informatics interventions and outcomes.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Example of confounding. To get the true effect of the intervention of interest, we need to control for the confounding variable.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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