Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov 30:10:12.
doi: 10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.12. eCollection 2013.

The retrospective chart review: important methodological considerations

Affiliations

The retrospective chart review: important methodological considerations

Matt Vassar et al. J Educ Eval Health Prof. .

Abstract

In this paper, we review and discuss ten common methodological mistakes found in retrospective chart reviews. The retrospective chart review is a widely applicable research methodology that can be used by healthcare disciplines as a means to direct subsequent prospective investigations. In many cases in this review, we have also provided suggestions or accessible resources that researchers can apply as a "best practices" guide when planning, conducting, or reviewing this investigative method.

Keywords: Best practices; Chart review; Medical record; Methodology; Retrospective review.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Worster A, Haines T. Advanced statistics: understanding medical record review (MRR) studies. Acad Emerg Med. 2004;11:187–192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2004.tb01433.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gearing RE, Mian IA, Barber J, Ickowicz A. A methodology for conducting retrospective chart review research in child and adolescent psychiatry. J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2006;15:126–134. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gilbert EH, Lowenstein SR, Koziol-McLain J, Barta D, Steiner J. Chart reviews in emergency medicine research: Where are the methods? Ann Emerg Med. 1996;27:305–308. - PubMed
    1. Findley TW, Daum MC. Research in physical medicine and rehabilitation. III. The chart review or how to use clinical data for exploratory retrospective studies. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1989;68:150–157. - PubMed
    1. Lipowski EE. Developing great research questions. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2008;65:1667–1670. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources