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Cohort Studies

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Handbook of Epidemiology

Abstract

This chapter summarises our basic understanding of cohort studies, a type of observational epidemiology study that some have also called longitudinal, or prospective. A cohort study evaluates the risk of disease or disease-related outcome in a population that is characterised in terms of relevant risk factors or exposures, placed under observation, and followed for some time until disease develops or not. In contrast to its classical counterpart, the case-control study (cf. Chap. I.6 of this handbook), cohort studies can relate multiple diseases to the exposure or exposures identified. On the other hand, cohort studies are frequently restricted to a limited number of exposures and potential confounders that can be included in the study, if historical data is used.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, MSS 1A8, Canada

    Anthony B. Miller

  2. Public Health Sciences and Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston Salem, NC, 27157-1063, USA

    David C. Goff Jr.

  3. Division of Biometry and Data Management, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine (BIPS), Linzer Str. 10, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Karin Bammann

  4. Département Epidémiologie en Entreprises, INRS, Avenue de Bourgogne, BP 27, 54501, Vandoeuvre Cédex, France

    Pascal Wild

Authors
  1. Anthony B. Miller
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  2. David C. Goff Jr.
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  3. Karin Bammann
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  4. Pascal Wild
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiological Methods and Ethiologic Research, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine (BIPS), Linzer Str. 10, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens  & Iris Pigeot  & 

  2. Division of Biometrie and Data Management, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine (BIPS), Linzer Str. 10, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens  & Iris Pigeot  & 

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© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Miller, A.B., Goff, D.C., Bammann, K., Wild, P. (2005). Cohort Studies. In: Ahrens, W., Pigeot, I. (eds) Handbook of Epidemiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-26577-1_6

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