scholarly journals Study design: what’s in a name?

2020 ◽  
Vol 183 (6) ◽  
pp. E11-E13
Author(s):  
Olaf M Dekkers ◽  
Rolf H H Groenwold

The name of the study should properly reflect the actual conduct and analysis of the study. This short paper provides guidance on how to properly name the study design. The first distinction is between a trial (intervention given to patients to study its effect) and an observational study. For observational studies, it should further be decided whether it is cross-sectional or whether follow-up time is taken into account (cohort or case–control study). The distinction prospective-retrospective has two disadvantages: prospective is often seen as marker of higher quality, which is not necessarily true; there is no unifying definition that makes a proper distinction between retrospective and prospective possible.

2011 ◽  
Vol 164 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Y Y Cheung ◽  
Annette W K Tso ◽  
Bernard M Y Cheung ◽  
Aimin Xu ◽  
K L Ong ◽  
...  

ObjectiveCentral obesity predisposes to various cardiometabolic diseases and is a key component of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). We have previously demonstrated that three obesity-susceptible single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs10938397 (GNPDA2), rs8050136 (FTO) and rs17782313 (MC4R), were associated with obesity and waist circumference in cross-sectional studies in the Chinese population. In this study, we investigate whether these SNPs could also predict the persistence of central obesity and MetS in subjects from the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factors Prevalence Study (CRISPS) cohort.Design and methodsWe genotyped these SNPs in i) 354 subjects with and 994 subjects without central obesity at both baseline and a 12-year follow-up, ii) 2214 subjects (816 cases and 1398 controls) in an MetS cross-sectional case–control study and iii) 225 subjects with and 1221 subjects without MetS at both baseline and the 12-year follow-up.ResultsBoth FTO rs8050136 (Page, sex-adjusted=0.019; odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence intervals (CI)): 1.35 (1.05, 1.73)) and GNPDA2 rs10938397 (Page, sex-adjusted=3×10−3; OR (95% CI): 1.34 (1.11, 1.63)) were significantly associated with persistent central obesity. GNPDA2 rs10938397 was also significantly associated with MetS (Page, sex-adjusted=0.011, OR (95% CI): 1.20 (1.04, 1.38)) in the case–control study. However, none of these SNPs showed an individual association with persistent MetS. In the combined genetic risk analyses for persistent central obesity and persistent MetS, the combined genetic risk score of the three SNPs showed an OR of 1.25 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.42; Page, sex-adjusted=4.92×10−3) and 1.19 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.38; Page, sex-adjusted=0.019) for each additional risk allele respectively.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that FTO and GNPDA2 variants predicted persistent central obesity in the Chinese population, further supporting their importance as obesity-susceptible genes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliya Sarmanova ◽  
Michelle Hall ◽  
Gwen S. Fernandes ◽  
Archan Bhattacharya ◽  
Ana M. Valdes ◽  
...  

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
Fayaz Khan ◽  
Mohamed Faisal Chevidikunnan

Stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide, and balance impairments are common disabling factors in patients with stroke, leading to falls. Thus, the study objectives were as follows: (i) To find the prevalence of balance impairment among patients with stroke. (ii) To find out the factors associated with balance impairment in patients with stroke. This cross-sectional retrospective case control study involved eighty-one post stroke patients with a mean age of 58.36 ± 14.06, recruited from six hospitals, who underwent an assessment of balance, walking speed, depression and isometric strength of the ankle and knee. These patients were later categorized into subjects with good balance (<45) in the Berg balance scale (BBS) and those with poor balance (≥45), as cases and controls, to assess the factors associated with balance impairment using binary logistic regression. The prevalence of balance impairment among patients with stroke was 48.1%. The reduction in power of knee flexors (OR = 0.858), knee extensors (OR = 0.880) and ankle dorsiflexors (OR = 0.820) was found to be significantly associated with balance impairment, along with speed (OR = 1.187 (95% CI = 1.100, 1.280)), depression (OR = 1.331 (95% CI = 1.055–1.679)) and activities of daily living (OR = 0.313 (95% CI = 0.150–0.650)). In summary, around half of the patients with stroke exhibited balance impairments, with females being more prone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gedefaye Nibret Mihretie ◽  
Fentahun Yenealem Beyene ◽  
Bekalu Getnet Kassa ◽  
Alemu Degu Ayele ◽  
Tewachew Muche Liyeh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The effect of short birth interval on socio-economic, negative maternal and child health outcomes remains common in developing countries. This study aimed to assess determinants of short birth interval among reproductive age women, who gave birth in health institution for last six-month in South Gondar, Ethiopia 2019. Methods Community-based unmatched case control study design was conducted from February 1 to March 30, 2019. Sample size of 150 was included by simple random sampling technique. The data was collected by semi-structured and pre-tested face to face interviewer-administered questionnaire from selected respondent. The collected data was entered with Epi-Data version 3.1 and analyzed by using SPSS version 23 software. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were used to examine the association. Odds ratio, 95% CI and P-value < 0.05 were used to determine the statistical association. Result The mean age of the respondents was 32.42 (SD ± 5.14) and 35.12 (SD ± 5.86) for cases and controls, respectively. Mothers not used contraceptives (AOR = 6.29, 95% CI (1.95, 20.24)), participants who had ≤2 alive children (AOR = 5.57, 95% CI (1.47, 21.13)), mothers who breast fed less than 24 months (AOR = 3.42, 95% CI (1.38, 8.46)), husband decision on contraceptives utilization (AOR = 2.69,95% CI (1.05,6.88)) and mothers who did not have history of antenatal care follow up (AOR = 3.52, 95% CI (1.27, 9.75)) were associated with short birth interval. Conclusion The optimum birth spacing plays a vital role in decreasing fertility and the morbidity and mortality of mothers and children. Thus, providing health information on the benefit of breast feeding, follow-up of antenatal care during pregnancy, use of contraceptives after delivery and encouraging mothers to make decisions about their own health and use of contraceptives to optimize birth spacing for rural communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Du ◽  
Yanzheng Gao ◽  
Changqing Zhao ◽  
Tangjun Zhou ◽  
Haijun Tian ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Segmental cervical instability is a risk factor for the progression of osteophytic bone spurs and development of myelopathy, and is treated as a relative contraindication of cervical laminoplasty. The aim of this study was to compare laminoplasty with selective fixation (LPSF) versus laminectomy with fusion (LCF) in patients with multilevel cervical myelopathy accompanied by segmental instability. Methods A case-control study was conducted by reviewing data from 63 patients who underwent LPSF (n = 30) or LCF (n = 33). Cervical alignment, range of motion (ROM), neurologic status and axial symptom severity pre-operation, 3-days after operation, and at the final follow-up (minimum 24 months) were measured and compared between groups. Results Postoperation, patients in the LPSF group lost 31.1 ± 17.3 % of cervical lordosis and 43.2 ± 10.9 % cervical ROM while patients in the LCF group lost 5.7 ± 8.2 % and 67.9 ± 15.5 %, respectively. Both LPSF and LCF groups significantly improved neurologic status and axial symptom severity at the final follow-up with similar between-group results(P > 0.05). Blood loss, operation time, hospital stay, and medical cost in the LPSF group were significantly less than in the LCF group(P < 0.05). Conclusions In 2 years of clinical observation, LPSF was effective in maintaining the stability of the cervical spine with less sacrifice of mobility and surgical trauma for multilevel myelopathy with segmental instability compared to LCF.


1999 ◽  
Vol 94 (8) ◽  
pp. 2109-2114 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. F. Moss ◽  
J. Valle ◽  
A. M. Abdalla ◽  
S. Wang ◽  
M. Siurala ◽  
...  

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