Genetics Research Flashcards
Medical Genetic Research
- experimental studies
- higher quality
- lower volume of evidence
- shorter interval between time of intervention to outcome
- individual decision-making
Public Health Genomics Research
- quasi-experimental studies
- lower quality
- higher volume of evidence
- longer interval between time of intervention to outcome
- group decision-making
Incidence
- rate
- # new cases/population at risk
- measured over period of time
Prevalence
- # new cases/# people in population
- measured at specified time point/time period
Experimental Studies
- researcher controls who is exposed and who is not
- provide strongest evidence of causal association between exposure and disease/outcome
Observational Studies
- researcher simply observe what happens to those exposed
- exposure can occur by choice or by chance
Prospective Studies
data collected before disease/outcome occurred
Retrospective Studies
data collected after disease/outcome occurred
Longitudinal Studies
occur over a span of time
Cross-Sectional Studies
looks at one point in time
Ecologic Studies
type of cross-sectional study that looks at how community is exposed
Cohort Studies
- sampling population based on exposure to calculate relative risk
- longitudinal study as cohort followed over time
- compared exposed and non-exposed individuals with respect to outcome
Case-Control Studies
- sampling population based on outcome to calculate odds ratio
- cases have outcome and controls do not but could have gotten it
- cross-sectional study as data collected at one point in time
Randomized Clinical Trials
- experiments designed to look for cause and effect relationships
- type of cohort study
- assignment of exposure to participant is randomized
- single blind: study participants do not know group they’re in
- double blind: study participants and researchers assessing outcomes don’t know groups
Internal Validity
- how well exposure and outcome measure
- how well study population selected and controlled
- was study designed well to reduce error
Random Error
probability that observed result is due to chance
Bias
systematic error committed by investigator during course of study
Confounding
association due to a third factor that is both related to the exposure and the outcome but is not an intermediate step in causal pathway between exposure and outcome
External Validity
generalizability of results to other groups