Pragmatism and Digitization in Cardiovascular Research

Dear Colleagues,

Results from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have transformed medicine from a field that was anecdote-driven into one that is evidence-based. However, conventional RCTs can be expensive, time intensive, and complex to conduct. Trial recruitment, participation, and data collection can also burden participants and research personnel. Moreover, the majority of cardiovascular RCTs test interventions in selected populations under explicitly protocol-defined settings, limiting the generalizability of findings. Therefore, the emphasis on the need for increased pragmatism and decentralization of clinical trials has increased recently. In this context, the concept of ‘pragmatism’ addresses concerns regarding the limited generalizability of findings in cardiovascular research, and optimizes effectiveness over efficacy evaluation. Moreover, the use of digital health technologies and embedding of RCTs into existing electronic health record (EHR) systems, registries, or administrative databases can streamline patient recruitment, consent, randomization, follow-up visits, surveillance and adjudication of outcomes.

This Special Issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine will focus on the need for "Pragmatism and Digitization in Cardiovascular Research". Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Original studies using digital technologies and pragmatic approaches for evidence generation;
2. Current challenges and potential solutions to the implementation of pragmatism into clinical trials;
3. Current challenges and potential solutions to the use of digital health technologies in evidence generation;
4. Leveraging electronic health records or administrative databases for evidence generation;
5. Outcomes adjudication in clinical trials;
6. Current landscape of registry-based trials.

We welcome papers that address this broad topic to update its research progress.

Dr. Muhammad Shahzeb Khan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• cardiovascular
• heart failure
• cardiometabolic
• interventional cardiology
• clinical trials
• randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
• pragmatism
• digitization
• digital technologies
• pragmatic design
• electronic health record (EHR)