JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The wide availability of internet-connected devices and new sensor technologies increasingly infuse longitudinal, observational study designs and cohort studies. Simultaneously, the costly and time-consuming nature of traditional cohorts has given rise to alternative, technology-driven designs, such as electronic cohorts (e-cohorts), which remain inadequately described by the scientific literature.

Objective:

To outline and discuss what may constitute an e-cohort, as well as to formulate a first working definition for health researchers.

Methods:

A two-staged review and synthesis process, comparing ten traditional and ten e-cohorts across the six core steps in their life-cycle of cohort designs

Results:

E-cohorts are a novel type of technology-driven cohort studies that are not physically tight to a clinical setting, follow more relaxed and not necessarily random sampling procedures, are primarily based on self-reported and digitally collected data, while systematically aim to leverage the internet and digitalization to achieve flexibility, interactivity, patient-centeredness, and scalability. That comes with some hurdles, such as data quality, generalizability, and privacy concerns.

Conclusions:

E-cohorts have similarities to their traditional counterparts, however, are distinct enough to be treated as an individual type of cohort design. The novelty of e-cohorts comes with a range of strengths and weaknesses, that require further exploration.