HSCI 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Intensive Insulinotherapy, Randomized Controlled Trial, Cohort Study
8 Apr 2020
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Identify whether real research is experimental or observational. The investigator, through randomization, determines the exposure status for each subject, then follows them and documents subsequent disease outcome. The subjects themselves, or perhaps their genetics, determine their exposure, for example, whether to smoke or not. The investigator is relegated to the role of simply observing exposure status and subsequent disease outcome. Observational studies are broadly identified as two types: Descriptive: describe the natural history of a disease, to determine the allocation of health care resources, and to suggest hypotheses about disease causation. Test hypotheses about the determinants of disease or other health condition, with the ideal goal of assessing causation. Types of study designs: clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies. Test the possible effect, that is, the efficacy, of a therapeutic or preventive treatment such as a new drug, physical therapy or dietary regimen for either treating or preventing the occurrence of a disease.
