Читать книгу The Pocket Guide to Critical Appraisal - Iain K. Crombie - Страница 15

Cohort studies are used to find out what happens to study participants over time. It is the method of choice for studying disease prognosis, or for investigating the consequences of exposure to potentially harmful agents. For example, studies could investigate how long patients with acute low back pain take to recover, or how many people who smoke subsequently develop lung cancer. Whatever the topic, a group of individuals is identified and followed up to see what events befall them. Most commonly the aim is to determine whether exposure to a potentially noxious substance leads to an increased risk of a disease. Sometimes the interest is in whether potentially beneficial substances, such as dietary vitamins or fish oils, reduce the risk of disease.