Basic epidemiologic study designs

• Main Author: Thomas, Duncan C
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University PressOxford 2009
• Subjects: Greenland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199232895.003.0002; https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52365657/isbn-9780199232895-book-part-2.pdf

Abstract Much of this book is concerned with dichotomous disease outcomes with variable age at onset. Continuous outcomes are usually studied with simple random samples, using standard linear models for normally distributed random variables. But disease traits—particularly, rare diseases—require the use of specialized sampling designs and methods of survival analysis. Here we provide a brief introduction to these principles, as they apply to the study of independent individuals. [See the companion volume (Thomas, 2004) for a discussion of dependent data arising in the context of family studies.] This introduction will be somewhat terse, and the reader who wishes a more in depth treatment of these topics might be referred to standard epidemiology (Kleinbaum et al. 1982; Rothman and Greenland 1998) and biostatistics (Breslow and Day 1980; 1987) textbooks.