Epidemiology studies in critical care
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Correspondence: Greg Martin Greg_Martin@emory.org
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and Medical and Coronary Intensive Care, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Critical Care 2006, 10:136 doi:10.1186/cc4897
Published: 4 April 2006Abstract
Epidemiology studies are an essential part of clinical research, often forming the foundation for studies ranked more highly in the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine. Studies of sepsis to date have been conducted on local, regional, national and international scales, with the majority conducted in the past 5 years. Longitudinal epidemiology studies convey an important additional aspect of the healthcare burden from disease, and may additionally serve to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare systems, to examine specific patient care strategies and to perform quality control analyses.