The Case-Control Study in Neuro-Ophthalmology

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Title The Case-Control Study in Neuro-Ophthalmology
Creator Ali G. Hamedani; Stacy L. Pineles; Heather E. Moss
Affiliation Department of Neurology (AGH), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Translational Center of Excellence for Neuroepidemiology and Neurology Outcomes Research (AGH), University of Pennsylvania, Philadephia, Pennsylvania; Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (AGH), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Ophthalmology (SLP), University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Ophthalmology (HEM), Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences (HEM), Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Abstract A case-control study is an observational epidemiologic study design that compares the prevalence of a risk factor or treatment exposure between 2 groups: those with a particular disease or condition of interest (cases), and a similar group that is at risk for this disease or condition but does not have it (controls). Because cases can be pooled across different centers and years of study, case-control studies are particularly well suited for studying rare diseases, which is frequently the case in neuro-ophthalmology. However, their inherently retrospective nature makes it challenging to establish temporality and to distinguish between association and causation. They are also susceptible to recall,selection, and confounding biases. It is therefore important for neuro-ophthalmologists to be familiar with the principles of case-control study design to critically appraise the neuro-ophthalmic epidemiologic literature. In this article, presented as a companion to Lin et al's' Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Anemia: A Matched Case-Control Study'(1) and Rueløkke et al's 'Optic Disc Drusen Associated Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: Prevalence of Comorbidities and Vascular Risk Factors' (2), we review the basics of case-control study design and highlight several common pitfalls in case-control studies for readers to consider when evaluating new studies.
Subject Anemia; Case-Control Studies; Humans; Neurology; Ophthalmology; Pseudotumor Cerebri
OCR Text Show
Date 2020-06
Language eng
Format application/pdf
Type Text
Publication Type Journal Article
Source Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, June 2020, Volume 40, Issue 2
Collection Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education Library: Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology Archives: https://novel.utah.edu/jno/
Publisher Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Holding Institution Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah
Rights Management © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society
ARK ark:/87278/s6839gf2
Setname ehsl_novel_jno
ID 1592948
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6839gf2
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