Merits of Data Sharing: The Digitalis Investigation Group Trial

Individual patient-level data were made available from 2000 to 2002 through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Limited Access Datasets program. To assess the data utilization from the DIG trial, we identified the variables collected from the data dictionary and included those related to patient demographics, assessment, follow-up, events, and treatment. After the trial’s main publication in 1997, there were no subsequent publications through 2002. Since 2002 until December 31, 2016, 75 studies have been published, of which 41 (55%) were conducted by outside investigators.