South Asian Cardiovascular Research Methodology Workshop
Basic Epidemiology
Study Designs in Epidemiologic Research
Thomas Songer, PhD
Fundamental Assumption in Epidemiology
Disease doesnt occur in a vacuum
Disease is not randomly distributed throughout a population Epidemiology uses systematic approach to study the differences in disease distribution in subgroups Allows for study of causal and preventive factors
Components of Epidemiology
Measure disease frequency
Quantify disease
Assess distribution of disease
Who is getting disease? Where is disease occurring? When is disease occurring? Formulation of hypotheses concerning causal and preventive factors
Identify determinants of disease
Hypotheses are tested using epidemiologic studies
Types of primary studies
Descriptive studies
describe occurrence of outcome
Analytic studies
describe association between exposure and outcome
Basic Question in Analytic Epidemiology
Are exposure and disease linked?
Exposure
Disease
Basic Questions in Analytic Epidemiology
Look to link exposure and disease
What is the exposure? Who are the exposed? What are the potential health effects? What approach will you take to study the relationship between exposure and effect?
Wijngaarden
Basic Research Study Designs and their Application to Epidemiology
Big Picture
To prevent and control disease In a coordinated plan, look to
identify hypotheses on what is related to disease and may be causing it formally test these hypotheses
Study designs direct how the investigation is conducted
What designs exist to identify and investigate factors in disease?
Descriptive
Case report Case series Descriptive Epidemiology RCT
Analytic
Cohort study Case-Control study Case-Crossover study Cross-sectional study Before-After study
Ecologic study
Timeframe of Studies
Prospective Study - looks forward, looks to the future, examines future events, follows a condition, concern or disease into the future
time
Study begins here
Timeframe of Studies
Retrospective Study - to look back, looks back in time to study events that have already occurred
time Study begins here
Study Design Sequence
Hypothesis formation
Case reports
Case series
Descriptive epidemiology
Analytic epidemiology Clinical trials Hypothesis testing Cohort Casecontrol
Animal study
Lab study
Crosssectional
Descriptive Studies
Increasing Knowledge of Disease/Exposure
Develop hypothesis
Case-control Studies
Investigate its relationship to outcomes
Define its meaning with exposures Test link experimentally
Cohort Studies
Clinical trials
Descriptive Studies
Case Reports
Detailed presentation of a single case or handful of cases Generally report a new or unique finding
e.g. previous undescribed disease e.g. unexpected link between diseases e.g. unexpected new therapeutic effect e.g. adverse events
Case Series
Experience of a group of patients with a similar diagnosis Assesses prevalent disease Cases may be identified from a single or multiple sources Generally report on new/unique condition May be only realistic design for rare disorders
Case Series
Advantages
Useful for hypothesis generation Informative for very rare disease with few established risk factors Characterizes averages for disorder
Disadvantages
Cannot study cause and effect relationships Cannot assess disease frequency
Houseboat Carbon Monoxide Poisonings on Lake Powell
Study design Definition of injury Data Sources Population Bias Findings Case series CO poisoning NPS EMS transport records Lake Powell events missing cases outdoor exposures
[Link]
Case Report
Case Series
One case of unusual injury finding Multiple cases of injury finding Population-based cases with denominator
Descriptive Epidemiology Study
Analytical Studies
Study Designs Analytic Epidemiology
Experimental Studies
Randomized controlled clinical trials Community trials
Observational Studies
Group data Ecologic Individual data Cross-sectional Cohort Case-control Case-crossover
Experimental Studies
treatment and exposures occur in a controlled environment planned research designs clinical trials are the most well known experimental design. Clinical trials use randomly assigned data. Community trials use nonrandom data
Observational Studies
non-experimental observational because there is no individual intervention treatment and exposures occur in a non-controlled environment individuals can be observed prospectively, retrospectively, or currently
Cross-sectional studies
An observational design that surveys exposures and disease status at a single point in time (a cross-section of the population)
time Study only exists at this point in time
Cross-sectional Design
factor present No Disease
factor absent
Study population factor present
Disease
factor absent
time Study only exists at this point in time
Cross-sectional Studies
Often used to study conditions that are relatively frequent with long duration of expression (nonfatal, chronic conditions) It measures prevalence, not incidence of disease Example: community surveys Not suitable for studying rare or highly fatal diseases or a disease with short duration of expression
Cross-sectional studies
Disadvantages
Weakest observational design, (it measures prevalence, not incidence of disease). Prevalent cases are survivors The temporal sequence of exposure and effect may be difficult or impossible to determine Usually dont know when disease occurred Rare events a problem. Quickly emerging diseases a problem
Epidemiologic Study Designs
Case-Control Studies
an observational design comparing exposures in disease cases vs. healthy controls from same population exposure data collected retrospectively most feasible design where disease outcomes are rare
Case-Control Studies
Cases: Disease Controls: No disease
factor present
factor absent factor present factor absent past
Cases (disease) Study population Controls (no disease) present
time
Study begins here
Case-Control Study
Strengths
Less expensive and time consuming Efficient for studying rare diseases
Limitations
Inappropriate when disease outcome for a specific exposure is not known at start of study
Exposure measurements taken after disease occurrence Disease status can influence selection of subjects
Seismic, structural, and individual factors associated with earthquake related injury
Case-control study Study design fatal or hospital-admitted Definition of injury coroners office/hospital Data Sources records Severity of Injury moderate to severe Population Los Angeles County Bias controls identified by phone Findings higher risk in elderly, women, and apartments [Link]
Earthquake Injuries
Case-Crossover
Each participant is a case acting as their own control
Accounts for effect of potential confounders (e.g. matches on age, sex, genetic susceptibility)
Exposure status immediately before event/outcome compared with exposure status @ some time prior to event Acute exposures and outcomes (e.g. anger & MI; driving while using cell phone & injury) Recall of prior exposures
Hypothesis Testing: Case-Crossover Studies
Study of triggers within an individual Case" and "control" component, but information of both components will come from the same individual
Case component" = hazard period which is the time period right before the disease or event onset Control component" = control period which is a specified time interval other than the hazard period
Cell phones and crashes
Study design Definition of injury Data Sources Severity of Injury Population Case-crossover study property damage crash phone records, survey moderate, no severe injury Ontario volunteers, control time frame 4 times higher risk for crash when using the phone
Bias Findings
N Engl J Med 1997 Feb 13;336(7):453-8
Epidemiologic Study Designs
Cohort Studies
an observational design comparing individuals with a known risk factor or exposure with others without the risk factor or exposure looking for a difference in the risk (incidence) of a disease over time best observational design data usually collected prospectively (some retrospective)
Study population free of disease
Factor present
disease
no disease disease no disease future
Factor absent
present
time
Study begins here
Timeframe of Studies
Prospective Study - looks forward, looks to the future, examines future events, follows a condition, concern or disease into the future
time
Study begins here
Prospective Cohort study
Exposed
Measure exposure and confounder variables
Outcome
Baseline
Non-exposed
Outcome
time
Study begins here
Timeframe of Studies
Retrospective Study - to look back, looks back in time to study events that have already occurred
time
Study begins here
Retrospective Cohort study
Exposed
Measure exposure and confounder variables
Outcome
Baseline
Non-exposed
Outcome
time
Study begins here
Strengths
Cohort Study
Exposure status determined before disease detection Subjects selected before disease detection Can study several outcomes for each exposure
Limitations
Expensive and time-consuming Inefficient for rare diseases or diseases with long latency Loss to follow-up
Experimental Studies
investigator can control the exposure akin to laboratory experiments except living populations are the subjects generally involves random assignment to groups clinical trials are the most well known experimental design the ultimate step in testing causal hypotheses
Experimental Studies
In an experiment, we are interested in the consequences of some treatment on some outcome. The subjects in the study who actually receive the treatment of interest are called the treatment group. The subjects in the study who receive no treatment or a different treatment are called the comparison group.
Epidemiologic Study Designs
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
a design with subjects randomly assigned to treatment and comparison groups provides most convincing evidence of relationship between exposure and effect not possible to use RCTs to test effects of exposures that are expected to be harmful, for ethical reasons
RANDOMIZATION
outcome
Intervention no outcome
Study population Control
outcome no outcome
baseline future
time Study begins here (baseline point)
Epidemiologic Study Designs
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
the gold standard of research designs provides most convincing evidence of relationship between exposure and effect
trials of hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women found no protection for heart disease, contradicting findings of prior observational studies
Randomized Controlled Trials
Disadvantages
Very expensive Not appropriate to answer certain types of questions
it may be unethical, for example, to assign persons to certain treatment or comparison groups
Thromboembolism and Air Travel
Study design Outcome Treatment Population Findings RCT DVT Elastic hose high risk for DVT lower frequency of DVT in those wearing hose
Angiology 52(6):369-374, 2001
