Invited commentary on interventional pharmacoepidemiology: origins, current status, and future possibilities

From the American Journal of Epidemiology

By Jerry Avorn, MD

SUMMARY: This invited commentary in the American Journal of Epidemiology addresses the origins, current status, and future possibilities of interventional pharmacoepidemiology — a field that uses epidemiological methods not merely to study drug use and outcomes but to actively intervene to improve prescribing. Avorn, one of the founders of this approach through his landmark 1983 academic-detailing trial, reflects on the field's development across four decades. The piece situates interventional pharmacoepidemiology within the broader evolution of pharmacoepidemiology as a discipline. (Note: Full text paywalled; summary reflects title, journal, and field context drawn from publicly available source information only.)

BACKGROUND: Interventional pharmacoepidemiology applies epidemiological methods to actively intervene in drug prescribing, rather than solely to observe and measure drug use and outcomes. Avorn has been a central figure in this field since the early 1980s.

KEY FINDINGS: Not retrievable from publicly available text; full article is paywalled.

IMPLICATIONS: Not retrievable from publicly available text; full article is paywalled.