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The Case-Control Study in Psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Glyn Lewis  and
Anthony J. Pelosi
Glyn Lewis*
Affiliation:
General Practice Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry
Anthony J. Pelosi
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry
*
∗Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
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Extract

Case-control studies involve ‘cases' being compared to ‘controls' with respect to ‘exposures', possible aetiological (or associated) factors. Associations between a disease and an exposure can be explained by chance, reverse causality, confounding and biases or, lastly, by causality. However, confounders as well as information and selection biases can be adjusted for at the design (or analysis) stage of the study. The strength of an association can be measured by means of relative risk, calculated indirectly using the odds ratio. Well conducted control studies should produce accurate estimates of relative risks in many psychiatric investigations.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 157 , Issue 2 , August 1990 , pp. 197 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990 

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