IIHE Education, Epidemiology II Notes
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Introduction to Analytic Epidemiology Study Designs

Objectives of Session

1. Residents will become familiar with the study designs for epidemiological studies
2. Residents will learn about issues in interpretation of study results.

Outline

1. Introduction to major types of epidemiologic studies
   • Descriptive vs. analytic
2. Major analytic study designs
   • Observational
     • Case-Control
     • Cohort
   • Intervention
3. Issues in interpretation of study results
   • Error
     • Random error
     • Systematic error
       • Bias
       • Confounding
   • Association vs. causation
4. Accuracy of a study
   • Reliability
   • Validity
   • Generalizability
5. Discussion questions

Study Questions

1. What is the difference between a descriptive study and an analytic study? Under what circumstance would you conduct each?
     
     
     
     
      
2. How is an observational study different than an intervention study?
     
     
     
     
     
3. If a pharmaceutical company wanted to evaluate the use of a new medication for a chronic condition (such as asthma or diabetes), what type of epidemiologic study would be appropriate? What are some of the issues to be considered in the planning this study?
     
     
     
     
     
4. What type of epidemiologic study would you be interested in conducting in your practice population or practice community? Why? What sort of data would you need? How would you go about collecting this data?
      
     
     
     
   

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