Use a query-based case series to retrieve and view source data as needed in your review and analysis of data. For example, you can retrieve cases that meet specified criteria, and then run a report against that case series.

A query is based on variables and values in the source data. When you run a query, Oracle Empirica Signal retrieves cases that match the specified criteria. To create or edit a query, use the Query Wizard to guide you through selecting variables, selecting values, and specifying query logic. For example, you can query for cases in which the patient is a female between age 18 and 65 who has experienced events in the Respiratory SOC (System Organ Class) and has taken DrugA.

Using the Query Wizard, you select variables from the source data, and then select values for each variable. You can use logical operators (AND, OR, and NOT) or set operators (INTERSECT, UNION, and MINUS) between the variables to construct a logical expression. The query retrieves a list of cases. The case series consists of case IDs of those cases. If the query retrieves a case multiple times, its case ID appears once in the case series.

You can add the query portion of a case series to the Query Library (the Queries page). The query in the Query Library is completely separate from the query that is part of the case series. For example, if you modify the query in the Query Library, the modification does not affect the case series. If you modify the query portion of a case series, the modification does not affect the query in the library.

Typically, a case series is a static list of cases; however, if you edit and re-execute the query portion of a query-based case series, Oracle Empirica drops any cases that you manually added or transferred to the case series if they do not meet the query criteria.