2. Types of studies
Types of epidemiological
studies
Experimental
Observational
Randomized Quasi-
Controlled Experi-
studies mental
Cases or report Cases and Cohort Cross sectional Ecologic
of cases controls
3. Cases in series
Advantages:
They are easy to write.
The observations are useful to other
researchers.
Disadvantages:
There is a lot of bias.
4. Cases and controls studies
Exposed Cases
Non-exposed
Exposed Controls
Non-exposed
Direction of research Beginning of study Time
5. Cases and controls studies
Advantages:
They are adequate to study rare outcomes.
They are adequate to outcomes with long latency
period.
They are cheap and easy to apply.
It is not necessary to wait to present outcome.
Disadvantages:
A lot of bias.
They depend on the quality of registries.
Control group should be adequately selected,
because they represent the population without the
outcome.
6. Cohort studies
With outcome
Cases
Exposed
Without
outcome
Cohort selected Sample of
to study controls
With outcome
Cases
Without
Non- outcome Sample of
exposed controls
Beginning of Time
study
7. Cohort studies
Exposed With outcome
Selection of a Without
cohort for study outcome
With outcome
Without
Non-exposed outcome
Beginning of Time
study
8. Cohort studies
Subjects are selected because do not have
the outcome and they are classified if have or
not have the risk factor (exposure).
We follow up to prove if they develop the
outcome.
The cohort study can be prospective if the
follow up is forward in the time or it can be
retrospective (historic), if it go back in the
time.
9. Cohort studies
Advantages:
They are adequate to know the causes of an
outcome.
To know the natural history of disease.
They adequate when the exposure is rare.
They are useful when we study two or more
outcome at the same time.
Disadvantages:
They take a long time.
They are expensive.
Subjects can be lost in the follow up.
They are not adequate for study rare
outcomes.
10. Cross sectional studies
Exposed with outcome
Subjects
selected to
study
Exposed without
outcome
Non-exposed with
outcome
Non-exposed without
outcome
Beginning of study
11. Cross sectional studies
Analyze data of a subjects group in a point of
time.
Describe a disease and its importance for the
population.
Define the needed on health.
They can be classified in:
Descriptive
Analytic
12. Cross-sectional studies
Advantages:
They are useful to know the burden of a
disease in a group.
Useful to evaluate diagnostic procedures.
To study common risk factors.
To study common outcomes.
Disadvantages:
Populations little willing to collaborate.
The sample can not be representative from
the population.
It is not useful to search causes of the
outcome.
14. Experimental studies
Exposed
Outcome
Without
Subjects that outcome
participate
Outcome
Controls Without
outcome
Beginning of study Intervention Time
15. Experimental studies
They are called clinical trials.
It is administrated an intervention to a group,
randomize selected and we do not know what
is receiving (blind). The group that does not
receive the intervention, it is a control group.
The allocation of subjects in experimental or
control group is given by chance.
By ethics reasons, only it is permitted
beneficial interventions.
16. Experimental studies
Blind single is when the subjects do not know
what intervention are receiving.
Double blind is when neither subjects nor
researcher know what intervention are
receiving each subject.
18. Experimental studies
There are cross design where it is
administrated an intervention (1) to
experimental group and another (2) in a
control group.
After, interventions are suspended, and left a
space (wash out period) without it, then the
intervention 1 is administrated to control
group and intervention 2 is administrated to
experimental group.
19. Experimental studies
Outcome
Outcome
Experimental
group Controls
Subjects that
participate
Without
Without outcome
outcome
Outcome Outcome
Experimental
Controls Without group
outcome
Without
outcome
Beginning of Intervention Intervention Time
study
20. Experimental studies
There are clinical trials with external controls.
We compare the results with the results of
another researcher or with the results of a
previous study.
Also, they are called historic controls.
21. Experimental studies
With outcome
Subjects
Without
outcome
With outcome
Results of a previous
study
Without outcome
Beginning Intervention only in subjects Time
of study
22. Experimental studies
Advantages:
Give evidence strong of causality.
There are less bias.
Historic controls are used in preliminary
studies.
Disadvantages:
Inappropriate use of historic controls lead a
severe mistakes.
Expensive.
They need time.
23. Ecologic studies
Compare exposure and the outcome between
groups.
Measure the exposure and outcome, in the
group as all.
They are only studies that offer to study
differences between groups.
24. Ecologic studies
Advantages:
Fast
Cheap
Use routinely data
Disadvantages:
They did not take into account to the
individual.
They depend on the quality of routinely data
They are difficult to interpret.
25. Bibliography
1.- Gordis L. Epidemiology. Phialdelphia,
W.B. Saunders Company, 1996.
2.- Songer T. Study designs in epidemiologic
research. Supercourse, 2005 (
http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec19101/index
) (Accesed October 2008).
3.- Hennekens CH, Buring J, Mayrent SL.
Epidemiology in Medicine. Boston, Little
Brown and Company, 1987.
Notes de l'éditeur
Observational studies. We observe one or more groups of subjects and their characteristics are described and/or analyzed. Experimental. We can manipulate variables. Series of cases. To describe characteristics of a patients group. Leads to the generation of hypothesis; use a short time period and there is not a control group. Cases and controls. The beginning is with the presence or absence of outcome y review before in the time to detect risk factors. Cohort. The beginning is with a subjects group with outcome; then, we classified them in exposed or non-exposed, and follow in the time to see if they develop the outcome. Cross-sectional. We measure the exposure and the outcome in a subjects group simultaneously, in a point of the time. Experimental. The beginning is with a cohort and randomize it to receive the intervention (experimental group) or not receive it (control group); then we follow to the subjects in the time to see if develop the outcome of interest. Ecologic. The main characteristic is that study groups not individuals.
They are called retrospective because of their direction in the time. Sometimes are matched cases with controls to make them more similar.
It begin as cohort study, classify the subjects as exposed or non-exposed; in the follow up, some participants develop the outcome, and they are the cases and a sample of subjects without outcome are controls and with them analyzed the cases-controls study. An important advantage is that cases and controls are members of the same population, because the probability of selection bias is minimized. Another advantage is that the information about the exposure is collected before of the develop of outcome, and the probability of information bias is minimized.
A cohort is a subjects group or things that they have some in common and do not have the outcome of interest.
They are called prevalence studies. They help us to know the economic, social burden of a disease in a population in a point of time. They can be: descriptive or analytic. The descriptive only show the frequency of exposure and of outcome in population in a point of time; in analytic studies we search to show the exposure and outcome in a point of time, searching associations with Prevalence Ratio or Odds Ratio.
También se les llama pruebas clínica o estudios intervencionales.