What does “Real-world evidence” mean?
Evidence derived from routine clinical practice rather than from a controlled trial.
Real-world evidence in plain English
Evidence derived from routine clinical practice rather than from a controlled trial.
It is genuinely useful for questions trials answer badly: how a treatment performs over years, in people with several conditions, outside strict eligibility criteria.
It is weak for the question patients most want answered — does this work — because improvement in an uncontrolled setting has many possible explanations, including regression to the mean and the effect of being treated at all.
Frequently asked questions
What does real-world evidence mean?
Evidence derived from routine clinical practice rather than from a controlled trial.
Sources and further reading
Every factual statement on this page is drawn from the following public sources. Links open in a new tab and are not affiliated with Flora House.