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Debate continues as to whether data from observational studies should be used for support in the development of clinical guidelines. One key issue is the generalizability of clinical trials because of potential gaps in clinical trial populations. These investigators used three sources of data (including electronic health records) to compare the clinical characteristics of clinical trial participants at one academic medical center and of other patients who met trial inclusion criteria but were not enrolled. The 202 trials (N=1645 enrollees) stretched across many medical specialties.
There were 27 cardiovascular trials with 319 participants. The cardiovascular trial population was skewed toward being male and white and had fewer comorbidities …