Question

Effectiveness of Studies Used in Epidemiology A premise of epidemiology is that health outcomes are not random occurrences within a population, but are linked to particular risk factors and diseases. Epidemiologists utilize a range of study design methods to evaluate evidence-based associations to understand and improve health outcomes. Use the specific Excel worksheets, located in the "Excel Study Design Workbook," to complete this assignment. Part 1: Study Design Comparison Using the "Study Design Comparison Worksheet,"compare and contrast the characteristics of the different types of study design types discussed in this course. You will be able to use this as a reference throughout the program. Part 2: Article Comparison Consider an area of interest that you want to explore as a potential topic for your Epidemiological Profile project. Search for two articles that fit any two of the four study designs (randomized trial, cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional) pertaining to the interest area you chose. Review the articles provided in the "Study Design Resource Document" to practice identifying articles for each study design. (Do not use the actual articles listed in the "Study Design Resource Document" for this assignment.) Complete the "Article Comparison Worksheet" to compare the study design characteristics in each of your two articles. Include details of any gaps in the characteristics or identify if information is missing. General Requirements Upon completion of both worksheets, submit the "Excel Study Design Workbook." This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

Answer 1

The study designs are classified into epidemiological, analytical and experimental . The epidemiological study design is again divided into observational, longitudanal, and ecological. The analytical study design is converted into crosssectional( retrospective), cohort ( prospective). And experimental study is designed as randomised control trail.

Cross sectional study design

cohort study

Cross-sectional studies, also known as one-shot or status studies, are the most commonly used design in the social sciences. This design is best suited to studies aimed at finding out the prevalence of a phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude or issue, by taking a cross-section of the population. They are useful in obtaining an overall ‘picture’ as it stands at the time of the study. They are ‘designed to study some phenomenon by taking a cross-section of it at one time’ (Babbie 1989: 89). Such studies are cross- sectional with regard to both the study population and the time of investigation. A cross-sectional study is extremely simple in design. You decide what you want to find out about, identify the study population, select a sample (if you need to) and contact your respondents to find out the required information. For example, a cross-sectional design would be the most appropriate for a study of the following topics: The attitude of the study population towards uranium mining in Australia. The socioeconomic–demographic characteristics of immigrants in Western Australia. The incidence of HIV-positive cases in Australia. The reasons for homelessness among young people. The quality assurance of a service provided by an organisation. The impact of unemployment on street crime (this could also be a before-and-after study). The relationship between the home environment and the academic performance of a child at school. The attitude of the community towards equity issues. The extent of unemployment in a city. Consumer satisfaction with a product. The effectiveness of random breath testing in preventing road accidents (this could also be a before-and-after study). The health needs of a community. The attitudes of students towards the facilities available in their library.

Cohort studies are based upon the existence of a common characteristic such as year of birth, graduation or marriage, within a subgroup of a population. Suppose you want to study the employment pattern of a batch of accountants who graduated from a university in 1975, or study the fertility behaviour of women who were married in 1930. To study the accountants’ career paths you would contact all the accountants who graduated from the university in 1975 to find out their employment histories. Similarly, you would investigate the fertility history of those women who married in 1930. Both of these studies could be carried out either as cross-sectional or longitudinal designs. If you adopt a cross-sectional design you gather the required information in one go, but if you choose the longitudinal design you collect the required information at different points in time over the study period. Both these designs have their strengths and weaknesses. In the case of a longitudinal design, it is not important for the required information to be collected from the same respondents; however, it is important that all the respondents belong to the cohort being studied; that is, in the above examples they must have graduated in 1975 or married in 1930. Prospective studies refer to the likely prevalence of a phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude. Such studies attempt to establish the outcome of an event or what is likely to happen. Experiments are usually classified as prospective studies as the researcher must wait for an intervention to register its effect on the study population. The following are classified as prospective studies: To determine, under field conditions, the impact of maternal and child health services on the level of infant mortality. To establish the effects of a counselling service on the extent of marital problems. To determine the impact of random breath testing on the prevention of road accidents. To find out the effect of parental involvement on the level of academic achievement of their children. To measure the effects of a change in migration policy on the extent of immigration in Australia.

Based on articles:

Factors contributing to non afherence to medication among type two DM in a patient attending teritiary care hospital in south india	The association of lifetime alcohol use with mortality and cancer risk in older adults: A cohort study
This cross sectional study was conducted at vydehi institutions for sample size od 150	This cohort study was conducted in U.S for a sample size of 99.658 adults.