MSBE-701

Cross Sectional Study

Design

Dr. Owais Raza

PhD (Epidemiology)

Assistant Professor
School of Public Health
Dow University of Health Sciences
Hierarchy of Level of Evidence

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Outline

• Design

• Types

• Issues
• Sample size
• Data collection
• Potential bias

• Advantages & disadvantages

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Design

• Also known as prevalence study or survey

• An “observational” design that surveys exposures and disease status at a

single point in time (a cross-section of the population)

• Often used to study conditions that are relatively frequent with long
duration of expression (nonfatal, chronic conditions)

• It measures prevalence, not incidence of disease

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Design

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Types

• Descriptive

• Analytical

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Issues
• Sample size
• Large enough to be representative

• Data collection
• Objective
• Subjective

• Bias
• Non-respondent bias

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Thank you

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Fundamentals of Epidemiology