Drug Safety最新文献

{"title":"Safeguarding Patients in the AI Era: Ethics at the Forefront of Pharmacovigilance.","authors":"Ashish Jain, Maribel Salas, Omar Aimer, Zahabia Adenwala","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01483-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01483-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in pharmacovigilance. However, the use of artificial intelligence in pharmacovigilance raises ethical concerns related to fairness, non-discrimination, compliance, and responsibility as the central ethical principles in risk assessment and regulatory requirements. This paper explores these concerns and provides a roadmap to how to address these challenges by considering data collection, privacy protection, transparency and accountability, model training, and explainability in artificial intelligence decision making for drug safety surveillance. A number of responsible approaches have been identified including an ethics framework and best practices to enhance artificial intelligence use in healthcare. The document also recognizes some initiatives that have demonstrated the importance of ethics in artificial intelligence pharmacovigilance. Nevertheless, the major needs mentioned in this paper are transparency, accountability, data protection, and fairness, which stress the necessity of collaboration to construct a cognitive framework aimed at integrating ethical artificial intelligence into pharmacovigilance. In conclusion, innovation should be balanced with ethical responsibility to enhance public health outcomes as well as patient safety.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"119-127"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142343749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Principles and Practice of Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety : Jimmy Jose, Anthony R. Cox, Vibhu Paudyal, editors. Springer, 2024. Hardcover ISBN 978-3-031-51088-5, Softcover ISBN 978-3-031-51091-5, eBook ISBN 978-3-031-51089-2.","authors":"Ian W Boyd","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01508-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-024-01508-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142946485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disproportionality Analysis and Characterisation of Medication Errors in EudraVigilance: Exploring Findings on Sexes and Age Groups.","authors":"Victor Pera, Jan A Kors, Erik M van Mulligen, Marcel de Wilde, Peter R Rijnbeek, Katia M C Verhamme","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01478-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01478-6","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;While medication errors (MEs) have been studied in the European Medicines Agency's EudraVigilance, extensive characterisation and signal detection based on sexes and age groups have not been attempted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;The aim of this study was to characterise all ME-related individual case safety reports in EudraVigilance and explore notable signals of disproportionate reporting (SDRs) among sexes and age groups for the 30 most frequently reported drugs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;Individual case safety reports were used from EudraVigilance reported between 2002 and 2021. An ME was defined as any Preferred Term from the narrow Standardised Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities&lt;sup&gt;®&lt;/sup&gt; Query. Signals of disproportionate reporting were selected based on a lower boundary of the 95% confidence interval ≥ 1 of the reporting odds ratio, and at least 3 individual case safety reports. Analysed subgroups were female individuals, male individuals, and age groups 0-1 month, 2 months to 2 years, 3-11 years, 12-17 years, 18-64 years, 65-85 years, and &gt;85 years. Heatmaps were utilised as a visual aid to identify striking SDRs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Of the 9,662,345 EudraVigilance reports, 267,262 (2.8%) contained at least one ME, with a total of 300,324 MEs, for 429,554 drugs. The most reported ME was \"Inappropriate schedule of product administration\" (52,646; 17.5%), followed by \"Incorrect dose administered\" (32,379; 10.8%) and \"Wrong technique in product usage process\" (26,831; 8.9%). Individual case safety reports with MEs were most frequently related to female individuals (148,009; 55.4%), most often submitted by healthcare professionals (155,711; 58.3%), originated predominantly from the USA (98,716; 36.9%), followed by France (26,678; 10.0%), and showed a median reported age of 50 years (interquartile range: 26-68). Most ME individual case safety reports (158,991; 59.5%) were associated with a serious health outcome. A total of 847 SDRs were identified, based on the entire EudraVigilance database; for subgroups, the number of SDRs ranged from 84 for the age group 0-1 month to 749 for female individuals. Signals of disproportionate reporting for female individuals and male individuals were very similar. Most MEs were reported for the vaccine against human papillomavirus (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical [ATC]: J07BM01; 11,086 MEs, 57% being \"inappropriate schedule of product administration\"), with reporting odds ratios that range from 1.5 to 47.0 among age groups. The SDR for the live-attenuated vaccine against herpes zoster (ATC: J07BK02) had a reporting odds ratio that ranged from 26.6 to 78.1 among all subgroups. Signals of disproportionate reporting for oxycodone (ATC: N02AA05; 847 cases of \"Accidental overdose\", 35%), risperidone (ATC: N05AX08; 469 cases \"Inappropriate schedule of product administration\", 22.3%) and rivaroxaban (ATC: B01AF01; 1,377 cases of \"Incorrect dose ad","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"59-74"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11711134/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142282082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Integrated Approach for Representing Knowledge on the Potential of Drugs to Cause Acute Kidney Injury.","authors":"Daniel Fernández-Llaneza, Romy M P Vos, Joris E Lieverse, Helen R Gosselt, Sandra L Kane-Gill, Teun van Gelder, Joanna E Klopotowska","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01474-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01474-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction and objective: </strong>The recent rise in acute kidney injury (AKI) incidence, with approximately 30% attributed to potentially preventable adverse drug events (ADEs), poses challenges in evaluating drug-induced AKI due to polypharmacy and other risk factors. This study seeks to consolidate knowledge on the drugs with AKI potential from four distinct sources: (i) bio(medical) peer-reviewed journals; (ii) spontaneous reporting systems (SRS); (iii) drug information databases (DIDs); and (iv) NephroTox website. By harnessing the potential of these underutilised sources, our objective is to bridge gaps and enhance the understanding of drug-induced AKI.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>By searching Medline, studies with lists of drugs with AKI potential established through consensus amongst medical experts were selected. A final list of 63 drugs was generated aggregating the original studies. For these 63 drugs, the AKI reporting odds ratios (RORs) using three SRS databases, the average frequency of ADEs from four different DIDs and the number of published studies identified via NephroTox was reported.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Drugs belonging to the antivirals, antibacterials, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pharmacological classes exhibit substantial consensus on AKI potential, which was also reflected in strong ROR signals, frequent to very frequent AKI-related ADEs and a high number of published studies reporting adverse kidney events as identified via NephroTox. Renin-angiotensin aldosterone system inhibitors and diuretics also display comparable signal strengths, but this can be attributed to expected haemodynamic changes. More variability is noted for proton-pump inhibitors.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>By integrating four disjointed sources of knowledge, we have created a novel, comprehensive resource on drugs with AKI potential, contributing to kidney safety improvement efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"43-58"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11711143/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142343747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cardiovascular Safety of Romosozumab Compared to Commonly Used Anti-osteoporosis Medications in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.","authors":"Shih-Hao Cheng, William Chu, Wen-Hsiang Chou, Woei-Chyn Chu, Yi-No Kang","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01475-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01475-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The aim of this study was to investigate the cardiovascular safety of romosozumab in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Romosozumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting sclerostin, has been shown to increase bone mineral density and reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures. However, in previous studies, romosozumab therapy was identified as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular events, particularly in patients with predisposing cardiovascular disease.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A systematic literature search was performed in the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the safety and efficacy of romosozumab versus alendronate, teriparatide, denosumab, or placebo in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Contrast-based network meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. The pooled estimates are presented as risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 5282 articles retrieved, 25 RCTs were included in this review (n = 24,942), and 18 randomized controlled trials (n = 16,777) were included in the network meta-analysis. The results indicated no significant differences in cardiovascular mortality rate between romosozumab and placebo. Regarding the risk of major cardiovascular events, no significant differences were found in the direct evidence or the network meta-analysis with placebo as the reference.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Romosozumab might be a safe option for treating postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The cardiovascular concerns associated with this treatment seem less significant than previously suggested, although additional real-world data are required to confirm this conclusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"7-23"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11711713/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142125149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Use of Multiple Medications During Pregnancy Among an Ethnically Diverse Population in South-Eastern Melbourne: A Retrospective Analysis to Explore Potential Risks and Complications.","authors":"Yitayeh Belsti, Aya Mousa, Hannah Jackson, Lisa J Moran, Kirsten R Palmer, Raja Ram Dhungana, Emily Callander, Daniel Lorber Rolnik, Helena Teede, Joanne Enticott","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01482-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01482-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objective: </strong>Medication use is increasing to treat both pre-existing and pregnancy-related medical conditions or complications. This study aims to investigate factors associated with multiple medication use during pregnancy, as well as any increased risk of pregnancy complications for women taking multiple medications.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective analysis of routinely collected medical records of singleton pregnant women was conducted in Southeast Melbourne, Australia, between 2016 and 2021. Self-reported medication use was recorded as part of routine medical care, starting from the first antenatal booking appointment and continuing for every subsequent antenatal appointment until birth. Multimorbidity was defined as having two or more medical conditions. Logistic regression was used to assess factors influencing multiple medication use (defined as taking two or more non-supplemental medications at any stage of pregnancy) and associations with pregnancy complications.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 48,502 participants, 34.9% used one medication, while 11.7% used multiple medications. Women of older age (30-34, 35-39, and ≥  40 years), higher body mass index (25.0-29.9 kg/m² and ≥  30 kg/m²), born in Australasia and Oceania, higher socioeconomic status, and multimorbidity were more likely to use multiple medications during pregnancy. Women taking multiple medications had a higher risk of preterm and caesarean deliveries, fetal death, and neonatal admissions to intensive care. Sensitivity analyses exploring different morbidity categories produced no changes to findings.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Medication use during pregnancy is prevalent, with many pregnant mothers taking multiple medications. Given the rising maternal age, body mass index, and morbidities in pregnancy, the use of medications during pregnancy is increasing. Such use correlates with an increased chance of adverse pregnancy outcomes. In the context of limited trials on the safety and efficacy of medications in pregnancy, timely harnessing of the information available within routine medical records for post-marketing surveillance is important.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"87-97"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11711702/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142282083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Caveats of Covariate Adjustment in Disproportionality Analysis for Best Practices.","authors":"Yoshihiro Noguchi, Tomoya Tachi, Tomoaki Yoshimura","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01473-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01473-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spontaneous reporting systems (SRS) provide valuable data for detecting unidentified adverse events not observed in clinical trials and for conducting safety assessments that accurately reflect real-world clinical practice. With the increasing number of publications using the SRS for disproportionality analysis (DA), there is an increasing demand for a comprehensive understanding of the research limitations associated with the SRS. However, there is a lack of understanding of the caveats associated with adjusting covariates in DA of the SRS. Herein, we summarized the use of covariate adjustment and its caveats in DA. The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences VIII suggests considering adjustments such as stratification when they can enhance the sensitivity and/or specificity of statistical analysis. However, several database-specific and statistical caveats have been identified when adjusting for covariates derived from the SRS. Disproportionality analysis may be affected not only by reporting bias at the time of enrollment but also by sparse-data bias due to variations in the number of enrollment reports. Statistical evidence is needed to determine in which cases and to what extent sensitivity and/or specificity are affected. Nevertheless, it is important for researchers to acknowledge that certain limitations discussed in this context may be inherent and cannot be rectified. Based on this understanding, they can then make an informed decision on whether to perform a covariate adjustment.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"1-5"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141995491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Off-Label Underdosed Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Asian Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.","authors":"Pajaree Mongkhon, Noppaket Singkham, Kunyarat Ponok, Natpatsorn Liamsrijan, Wipada Phoosa, Sirayut Phattanasobhon, Laura Fanning, Vichai Senthong, Surasak Saokaew","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01476-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01476-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Off-label underdosed direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are commonly utilised in Asian patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) since they are prone to bleeding with OACs. However, the efficacy and safety of off-label underdosing DOACs are controversial. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of off-label underdosed DOACs in Asian patients with AF.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from 2010 to July 5, 2024, for randomised controlled trials or observational studies that compared off-label DOACs and on-label/warfarin in Asian patients with AF. The primary outcomes included ischaemic stroke or systemic embolism (ISSE) and major bleeding (MB), while secondary outcomes included all-cause death, gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB), intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), and myocardial infarction (MI). Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random-effects models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twenty observational studies were included. Seventeen studies compared off-label underdosed DOACs versus on-label DOACs, whereas five studies compared off-label underdosed DOACs versus warfarin. Off-label underdosed DOACs were associated with higher risk of ISSE (pooled HR [pHR] = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.00-1.38, p = 0.048) and ICH (pHR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.06-1.52, p = 0.010) versus on-label. Subgroup analysis demonstrated increased ISSE risk with off-label underdosed rivaroxaban compared to on-label (pHR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.07-2.08). Compared to warfarin, off-label underdosed DOACs were associated with decreased risk of MB (pHR = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.32-0.65, p < 0.001), GIB (pHR = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.29-0.93, p = 0.028), ICH (pHR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.42-0.86, p = 0.005), and all-cause death (pHR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.56-0.87, p = 0.001), while illustrating similar ISSE risk.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Off-label underdosed DOACs, particularly rivaroxaban, was associated with increased ISSE risk but did not decrease bleeding compared to on-label. Adherence to appropriate DOAC doses should be emphasised to achieve the best clinical outcomes for Asian patients with AF.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"25-42"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142105453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Description and Validation of a Novel AI Tool, LabelComp, for the Identification of Adverse Event Changes in FDA Labeling.","authors":"George A Neyarapally, Leihong Wu, Joshua Xu, Esther H Zhou, Oanh Dang, Joann Lee, Dharmang Mehta, Rochelle D Vaughn, Ellen Pinnow, Hong Fang","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01468-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01468-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The accurate identification and timely updating of adverse reactions in drug labeling are crucial for patient safety and effective drug use. Postmarketing surveillance plays a pivotal role in identifying previously undetected adverse events (AEs) that emerge when a drug is used in broader and more diverse patient populations. However, traditional methods of updating drug labeling with new AE information have been manual, time consuming, and error prone. This paper introduces the LabelComp tool, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tool designed to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of postmarketing drug safety surveillance. Utilizing a combination of text analytics and a trained Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) model, the LabelComp tool automatically identifies changes in AE terms from updated drug labeling documents.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>Our objective was to create and validate an AI tool with high accuracy that could enable researchers and FDA reviewers to efficiently identify safety-related drug labeling changes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our validation study of 87 drug labeling PDF pairs demonstrates the tool's high accuracy, with F1 scores of overall performance ranging from 0.795 to 0.936 across different evaluation tiers and a recall of at least 0.997 with only one missed AE out of 483 total AEs detected, indicating the tool's efficacy in identifying new AEs.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The LabelComp tool can support drug safety surveillance and inform regulatory decision-making. The publication of this tool also aims to encourage further community-driven enhancements, aligning with broader interests in applying AI to advance regulatory science and public health.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"1265-1274"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11554693/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141859274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the Effect of Missing Data and Unmeasured Confounding on External Comparator Studies: Case Studies and Simulations.","authors":"Gerd Rippin, Héctor Sanz, Wilhelmina E Hoogendoorn, Nicolás M Ballarini, Joan A Largent, Eleni Demas, Douwe Postmus, Theodor Framke, Lukas M Aguirre Dávila, Chantal Quinten, Francesco Pignatti","doi":"10.1007/s40264-024-01467-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40264-024-01467-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objective: </strong>Missing data and unmeasured confounding are key challenges for external comparator studies. This work evaluates bias and other performance characteristics depending on missingness and unmeasured confounding by means of two case studies and simulations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two case studies were constructed by taking the treatment arms from two randomised controlled trials and an external real-world data source that exhibited substantial missingness. The indications of the randomised controlled trials were multiple myeloma and metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Overall survival was taken as the main endpoint. The effects of missing data and unmeasured confounding were assessed for the case studies by reporting estimated external comparator versus randomised controlled trial treatment effects. Based on the two case studies, simulations were performed broadening the settings by varying the underlying hazard ratio, the sample size, the sample size ratio between the experimental arm and the external comparator, the number of missing covariates and the percentage of missingness. Thereby, bias and other performance metrics could be quantified dependent on these factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>For the multiple myeloma external comparator study, results were in line with the randomised controlled trial, despite missingness and potential unmeasured confounding, while for the metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer case study missing data led to a low sample size, leading overall to inconclusive results. Furthermore, for the metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer study, missing data in important eligibility criteria led to further limitations. Simulations were successfully applied to gain a quantitative understanding of the effects of missing data and unmeasured confounding.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This exploratory study confirmed external comparator strengths and limitations by quantifying the impact of missing data and unmeasured confounding using case studies and simulations. In particular, missing data in key eligibility criteria were seen to limit the ability to derive the external comparator target analysis population accurately, while simulations demonstrated the magnitude of bias to expect for various settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":11382,"journal":{"name":"Drug Safety","volume":" ","pages":"1245-1263"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11554740/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141888784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}