Ass. Prof . Yaseen Taha sarhan .

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University of Anbar Collage of medicine  . Community and family medicine Department . 

 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL  STUDIES

              ((Design strategies in epidemiological research ))

Introduction :-

Research can be defined as ( the systemic search for information and new knowledge to solve a problem ) .

The daily practice of medicine need the knowledge about who is likely to develop a particular condition and under what circumstances , what is the best treatment , what is the prognosis , and who we can prevent such illness .

Health care providers must be able to identify persons who are at high risk to reduce that risk . This type of knowledge emerges in many cases from epidemiological researches .

Epidemiology is the basic scientific tool which public health professional use to health status , diseases , medical interventions and the effectiveness of healthy delivery services . It is a perspective in which systematic observation is the basis on which grounded inferences can be made about observed –phenomena .

     Aims of medical (epidemiological ) research .

a-monitoring and surveillance of health and disease .

b-Establishing causes of disease or factors associated with death or disease .

c-Detecting diseases .

d-preventing death or disease .

e-Evaluating treatments for disease .

f- Evaluating health services and programs .

          Learning objectives .

a-To under stand the concepts of different study designs .

b-To learn about the  advantages and disadvantages of each study design .

c-To appropriately use a study design in research projects .

        It is important to :-

a-Determine the exposure and outcome precisely .

b-Remember that the choice of any study design based on :

1-Features of exposure and outcome .

2-Time and resources available .

3-Results from previous studies .

4-Gaps in the knowledge that remain to be filled .

c-Take care about sampling method . (proper sampling procedure ).

       (( NO STUDY DESIGN IS FIT FOR ALL TYPES OF STUDIES)