Digital Cohorts and Trials
The digital epidemiology book now has a new chapter on a major development in epidemiology and medicine.
I’ve just published the first version of a chapter on digital cohorts and trials in my book on digital epidemiology. The entire book is freely available online, and the new chapter can be found here: https://www.digitalepibook.com/ch9.html.
What are digital cohorts and trials?
Traditional cohort studies and trials, such as RCTs, gather participant data to study the relationship between exposures and outcomes of interest. For instance, a cohort study might investigate the link between smoking and cancer, while a trial generally aims to establish the safety and efficacy of a drug.
Cohorts and trials are mainstays in modern medicine and public health. A quick glance at the latest publications in leading medical journals like the New England Journal of Medicine or The Lancet will reveal that almost all original papers are cohort studies or trials.
However, running conventional cohorts and trials can be costly and challenging. Participation rates can be low, retention is often difficult, and data collection typically occurs in a clinical setting, rather than in the context of participants' everyday lives.
Digital cohorts and trials, on the other hand, are coordinated and conducted digitally, collecting data electronically (or via postal mail when physical items need to be shipped). Unlike traditional studies, digital studies can be completed entirely remotely, eliminating the need for clinical sites. This is why they are sometimes called remote studies or siteless studies. Nevertheless, I hope that the terms digital cohorts and trials will become the standard, reflecting the broader digital health terminology. After all, the key development here is digital: studies can be remote or siteless because they are digital, not the other way around.
I learned a lot writing this chapter, and I hope it will be useful to the reader. This is a rapidly evolving area, and I thus expect the chapter to evolve rapidly with it.
CODA: Where to find me
I’ll make it a habit in these posts to remind people where to find me:
Writing: I write another Substack on practical tips for interacting with large language models, called Engineering Prompts.