LAUSR

Key Points Question How do modern methods for statistical inference compare with approaches common in the clinical literature when estimating the association of corticosteroids with mortality for patients with moderate to severe COVID-19? Findings In a cohort study using retrospective data for 3298 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, target trial emulation using a doubly robust estimation procedure successfully recovers a benchmark from a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials . In contrast, analytic approaches common in the clinical research literature generally cannot recover the benchmark. Meaning These findings suggest that clinical research based on observational data can be used to estimate findings similar to those from randomized clinical trials; however, the correctness of these estimates requires designing and analyzing the data set on principles that are different from the current standard in clinical research.