"WHAT CAN WE BELIEVE - A GUIDE TO INTERPRET STUDIES": REGISTRIES AND DATABASES

Background: In an era of rapidly increasing scientific activity in Rheumatology, of increasing use of observational designs to address issues for which trial-designs are unsuitable or for which trials will never get funded, and of an increasing number of registries from all over the globe reporting on clinical issues in Rheumatology, the demands on readers and clinicians to properly interpret such data have increased dramatically. Objective: To provide readers with practical tools to judge the validity and robustness of reports based on clinical registries or databases. Methods: Using a checklist approach, this talk will discuss specific issues pertaining to the design, conduct, and reporting of registry-based studies. Implications of the different approaches to each of these issues will be discussed. Examples from the literature of robust, or perhaps not so robust, ways to deal with each issue will be given. Disclosure of Interest: None DeclaredCitation: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, volume 70, supplement 3, year 2011, page 59Session: What can we believe – a guide to interpret studies (Speaker Presentations )