Observational Study Designs

Example: Prospective cohort study

You are examining the relationship between physical activity and the incidence of breast cancer
over a long period of time.
You recruit a group of healthy participants, all of whom were free of breast cancer at the
beginning of your study. You then collect data on their level of physical activity and other
lifestyle factors over a long period of time, tracking incidences of breast cancer. After many
years, your results conclude that those who engaged in regular physical activity developed breast
cancer at lower rates compared to those who were less active.

Example: Prospective cohort study

You are examining the relationship between air pollutants and the incidence of lung cancer
diagnoses.
You recruit a group of healthy participants, all of whom were free of lung cancer at the
beginning of your study. You then collect data on their exposure to air pollution, such as the
levels of particulate matter or other pollutants in their local environment over a long period of
time, tracking incidences of lung cancer. After many years, your results conclude that those who
were exposed to higher levels of air pollutants had a higher risk of developing lung cancer
compared to those who were not.

Example 2 

Our objective is to assess the survival in HIV-infected individuals and the

factors associated with survival. We have clinical data from about 430
HIV-infected individuals in the center. The follow-up period ranges from
3 months to 4 years, and we know that 33 individuals have died in this
group. We decide to perform the survival analysis in this group of
individuals. We prepare a clinical record form and abstract data from
these clinical forms. This design will be a retrospective cohort study.

Case-Control

There is a suspicion that zinc oxide, the white non-absorbent sunscreen traditionally worn by
lifeguards is more effective at preventing sunburns that lead to skin cancer than absorbent
sunscreen lotions. A case-control study was conducted to investigate if exposure to zinc oxide is
a more effective skin cancer prevention measure. The study involved comparing a group of
former lifeguards that had developed cancer on their cheeks and noses (cases) to a group of
lifeguards without this type of cancer (controls) and assess their prior exposure to zinc oxide or
absorbent sunscreen lotions.

This study would be retrospective in that the former lifeguards would be asked to recall which
type of sunscreen they used on their face and approximately how often. This could be either a
matched or unmatched study, but efforts would need to be made to ensure that the former
lifeguards are of the same average age, and lifeguarded for a similar number of seasons and
amount of time per season.
Cross-Sectional Study Examples
Because cross-sectional studies are used across many fields, there are a wide variety of examples.
One cross-sectional study example in medicine is a data collection of smoking habits and lung
cancer incidence in a given population. A cross-sectional study like this cannot solely determine that
smoking habits cause lung cancer, but it can suggest a relationship that merits further investigation.
Another cross-sectional study could collect data on the incidence of mental illness and the use of
therapy to support mental health. Cross-sectional studies can investigate the rate of low-income
families in a population. Another cross-sectional study example is the research of stress levels in
college students in various years of study (freshman, sophomore, etc.).

Example of Interpretation:

Risk Ratio:

If RR=1 ; The incidence of lung cancer in each group is the same

RR>1; (example 2.5) Smokers had 2.5 times the risk of lung cancer compared to
non-smokers

RR<1; (example 0.5) Individuals who take low dose aspirin have 0.58 times the
risk of myocardial infarction compared to those who do not take aspirin

Odds Ratio:

If OR=1 ; The incidence of lung cancer in each group is the same

OR>1; (example 2.5) Lung cancer had 2.5 times the odds for those who are
smoking compared to those who are non-smokers

OR<1; (example 0.5) Pneumonia had 0.5 times the odds for those who eat
vegetables compared to those who don’t eat vegetables

References:

https://study.com/learn/lesson/cross-sectional-research-example-method.html

https://himmelfarb.gwu.edu/tutorials/studydesign101/casecontrols.cfm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4763690/