Emulation Differences vs. Biases When Calibrating Real-World Evidence Findings Against Randomized Controlled Trials

Actionable real-world evidence (RWE) requires accurate estimation of causal treatment effects. Calibration of RWE against randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is sometimes done to demonstrate that RWE can support the same causal conclusion as RCTs. Disagreements can occur when studies in each pair asked different questions in different populations or due to the presence of residual bias. Distinguishing among reasons for differences will impact the level of confidence in RWE.