Section 7 (Pgs 81-86) Flashcards
What is the word used to describe a study where the subjects undergo an intervention?
Experimental
What is the word used to describe a study where the subjects are monitored?
Observational
What do experimental studies typically do?
Compare treatments or assess the outcome of surgery
What do observational studies typically do?
Determine risk factors for disease
What type of studies are most epidemiological studies?
Observational
What is the disadvantage of observational studies?
Usually less powerful than experimental designs because the conditions have not been controlled in any way by the researcher
What is the word used to describe a study where the study is based on a review of existing data e.g. patient records?
Retrospective
What is the word used to describe a study is based on data which has to be collected at some time in the future?
Prospective
Describe a typical retrospective study? (2)
Review of a patients’ lifestyles to identify risk factors for a disease or review of medical records to determine the effect of a previous intervention
Describe a typical prospective study? (2)
Trials for comparing treatments, or assessing the input of an intervention on a patient’s condition
What is the word used to describe a study where each subject is observed once providing a snapshot of a situation?
Cross-sectional
Give examples of a typical cross-sectional study? (3)
Surveys
Investigation of the incidence of a disease in a population
Laboratory experiments
What is the word used to describe a study that monitors a situation over time?
Longitudinal
What is the word used to describe a study where the subjects are unaware of which treatment they haven been given?
Blind
What is the word used to describe a study in which neither the subjects nor the person monitoring their progress has knowledge of the treatment given?
Double blind
Are blind and double blind trials observational or experimental?
Experimental
What is the word used to describe a study where the subjects are selected at random?
Randomised
What effect does randomisation have on confounding factors?
Randomisation balances out confounding factors, both known and unknown
Compared to randomisation, what is a more powerful way of dealing with known confounding factors?
To use them to stratify the population and select subjects randomly from each stratum
What is called when known confounding factors are used to stratify the population and select subjects randomly from each stratum?
Randomised stratified trial
What is the word used to describe observations when variables are measured more than once on each subject or subjects are matched for factors critical to the outcomes?
Dependent
What is the word used to describe observations when variables measured are not related?
Independent
Are designs based on independent or dependent data more powerful?
Why?
Dependent data
Some of the greatest variation (between subjects) has been removed
What is the word used to describe a study which includes a comparison group of subjects who are not given the treatment?
Controlled
What is the word used to describe a study in which the control is a placebo?
Placebo-controlled
Describe a parallel group design?
one in which the treatment and control groups are observed at the same time
What is the name for a parallel group study in which each individual subject who received the treatment is matched for factors critical to the outcomes with a subject in the control group?
Case-controlled
What is the name for a parallel group trial which continues until a difference between the treatment and control groups becomes apparent?
Sequential
What is the name for a controlled trial in which each subject acts as their own control?
Crossover design