Читать книгу The Pocket Guide to Critical Appraisal - Iain K. Crombie - Страница 19

Case–control studies ask what makes a group of individuals different from a control or comparison group. Often the study group will have a disease, which the control group do not have. For example, the cases could be women with breast cancer and the controls could be women of similar age who do not have the disease. The study compares the characteristics of the cases and controls to identify the factors from the past that might have caused the disease. The control group is often selected to be similar to the cases in factors such as age, gender, and life circumstances. This type of study can also explore why some people behave in a particular way. For example, a study could explore why some patients miss clinic appointments, by comparing those who fail to attend with those who do attend.