Observational research databases in renal disease.

Observational, patient-oriented research is a term that describes clinical or community-based studies in that they do not involve an experiment or intervention. Observational research studies can be designed and implemented by a primary data collection or using previously collected patient data. The latter is less expensive, although it has some distinct limitations. Many research databases are readily available and can be used to answer important questions that are relevant to kidney disease. This review summarizes the types of research analyses that can be conducted using existing databases, the types of research databases available, and a general approach for addressing a proposed research question using existing data.