[BOOK][B] Case-control studies

KJ Rothman, S Greenland, TL Lash - 1998 - teleducacion.medicinaudea.co
1998teleducacion.medicinaudea.co
The use and understanding of case-control studies is one of the most important
methodologic developments of modern epidemiology. Conceptually, there are clear links
from randomized experiments to nonrandomized cohort studies and from nonrandomized
cohort studies to case-control studies. In this chapter, we review case-control study designs
and contrast their advantages and disadvantages with cohort designs. We also consider
variants of the basic case-control study design. Conventional wisdom about case-control …
The use and understanding of case-control studies is one of the most important methodologic developments of modern epidemiology. Conceptually, there are clear links from randomized experiments to nonrandomized cohort studies and from nonrandomized cohort studies to case-control studies. In this chapter, we review case-control study designs and contrast their advantages and disadvantages with cohort designs. We also consider variants of the basic case-control study design.
Conventional wisdom about case-control studies, which antedates the era of modern epidemiology, is that they do not yield estimates of effect that are as valid as measures obtained from cohort studies. According to this conventional wisdom, there is a hierarchy of study designs, with randomized trials considered the most valid, cohort studies less so, and case-control studies even less. Despite the premise that there is a hierarchy of validity inherent to study design, any study of whatever design can have problems with validity; it is only by examining the particulars of a study that an epidemiologist can judge its validity. 1 The idea that case-control studies have inherent validity problems may reflect common misunderstandings in conceptualizing (Print pagebreak
teleducacion.medicinaudea.co