What Are the Common Study Designs in Epidemiology?
Epidemiologists use different study designs, each with its strengths and limitations:
- Cohort Studies follow a group of people over time to assess the association between exposures and outcomes. - Case-Control Studies compare individuals with a disease (cases) to those without (controls) to identify risk factors. - Cross-Sectional Studies analyze data from a population at a single point in time to determine prevalence and associations. - Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for assessing the effectiveness of interventions by randomly assigning participants to either the intervention or control group.
