SCA Primer
A guide to assessing synthetic controls with common challenges, real-life examples and a critical appraisal framework.
There has been a rapid expansion in the use of non-randomized evidence in the regulatory approval of treatments globally. An emerging set of methodologies have been utilized to provide greater insight into external control data used for these purposes, collectively known as synthetic control methods.
Through this paper, we provide a set of key questions to help assess the quality of literature publications utilizing synthetic control methodologies, provide common challenges and real-life examples of synthetic controls as well as a critical appraisal framework with which to assess future publications.