Evaluation of studies of treatment harm

摘要

Previous Users' guides have described the evaluation of studies of the effectiveness of a treatment or intervention and studies of causation or aetiology (ie, studies assessing the relation between certain exposures and the development of a specific disease or condition). This Users' guide will focus on related questions of the harmful effects of interventions or treatments-ie, the undesirable outcomes of treatments prescribed by healthcare providers. The criteria are those identified in the original JAMA users' guide by Levine el al.