week 2- levels of evidence, research designs

systematic

research design that presents the strongest level of evidence for all types of questions

RCTs (randomized control trials)

research design with the 2nd-best level of evidence for all types of questions

longitudinal

kind of study that follows subjects through time, measuring data at prescribed intervals

cross-sectional

kind of study that gives a snapshot of a population at one point in time

mechanistic

what kind of study is animal and in-vitro?

case report

study that describes the experience and/or treatment of an individual

case series

study with 1<x<20 individuals, composing of their case studies

case control

kind of study where people with a condition are compared to similar people without the condition

cohort

study that monitors individuals prospectively or retrospectively to assess the development of a disease or other outcome

prospective cohort study

best kind of study to assess prognosis and etiology

randomized control trial

study where a group of similar people are randomly assigned to different treatment groups in order to test the effect of an intervention

meta-analysis

name for when data of many studies in a systematic review are compiled and analyzed as one big study

clinical practice guidelines (CPG)

systematically developed summary of research that includes recommendations for clinical practice

3

what level of evidence is a cohort study?

4

what level of evidence is a case report/case series/case-control study?

5

what level of evidence is mechanistic, like expert opinion or animal studies?

experimental, quasi-experimental, non-experimental

3 kinds of research designs

experimental

kind of design with purposeful manipulation of some variables

quasi-experimental

kind of design with purposeful manipulation of groups of subjects, lacking a control group and/or randomization

non-experimental

kind of research design with no purposeful manipulation of subjects and pre-determine groups

institutional review board

what does IRB stand for?

more than minimal risk to participants, involves sensitive topic, involves minors

when is IRB approval required?

non-invasive research that involves questionnaires or surveys

when would expedited IRB review be reasonable to request?

poses little risk to participants, doesn’t involve a sensitive topic, doesn’t involve minors

when is a study IRB-exempt?

educational settings among normal curriculum

exception to a study not being exempt from the IRB due to involvement of minors