Lecture 9 Cross-Sectional Studies

simultaneously

Disease and exposure status are ascertained ___

there is no in-built temporality between exposure and disease so it is hard to make assumptions about causality

snapshot view of exposure and existing disease status (prevalence)

compare presence of existing disease in persons with and without exposure

prevalence

in a cross-sectional study, what measure of disease frequency can we calculate?`

prevalence ratio and prevalence difference

in a cross-sectional study, what measure of association can we calculate?

quick and inexpensive, generate pilot data for a study with more clear temporality between exposure and disease, evaluate several exposures and several diseases at the same time, helpful for evaluating disease burden in a population

advantages of cross-sectional studies

temporal sequence unclear, may miss diseases with short duration

disadvantages of cross-sectional studies

clinical trials, cohort study, case-control, cross-sectional

Order of strength of evidence of an association between exposure and disease