Patient Cohort
What is a patient cohort?
A patient cohort is a term used in medical research to define groupings of individuals with common traits, such as social and health factors. Patient cohorts are integral to researching and developing effective medical interventions. Observational studies begin with selecting a patient cohort. Patient cohort selection should address missing, biased and confounding data before the clinical study.
Electronic health records (EHRs) are useful in forming a patient cohort because they can identify relevant patient data.
Why are patient cohorts important to healthcare?
Patient cohorts are important to healthcare because they monitor individuals living with common factors over time. In turn, these “cohort studies” improve knowledge of disease and risk factors.