Learning Objectives

• Describe the role of epidemiology in providing evidence for medicine
• Describe how the following studies are structured, including how study subjects are allocated to groups: – descriptive study, – case-control, – cohort, – randomised controlled trial (RCT)
• Describe a confounder/ confounding factor/ variable, and describe bias and random error
• Define a control group and describe its use
• Describe how researchers make a ‘control’ group -matching & restriction
• Describe randomisation and its benefits
• Explain blinding and double-blinding and their purpose
• Identify health statistics as being prevalence or incidence and calculate and interpret incidence and prevalence
• Explain the reasons for and effects on data of age-standardisation

Studies

• studies can be broadly classified into [2 types]?
• how are quantitative studies further classified?
• what are some forms of qualitative studies?
• Randomised Control Time

Bias

• what are comparison groups?
• what 3 types of biases affect studies?
• what considerations should you make when comparing 2 populations?