Skip Navigation



Family Practice Advance Access published online on June 20, 2006
Family Practice, doi:10.1093/fampra/cml025
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/5/597    most recent
cml025v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Smeeth, L.
Right arrow Articles by Cook, D. G
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Smeeth, L.
Right arrow Articles by Cook, D. G
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Received September 22, 2006
Accepted May 23, 2006

Article

The use of primary care databases: case-control and case-only designs

Liam Smeeth 1 *, Peter T Donnan 2, and Derek G Cook 3

1 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
2 Tayside Centre for General Practice. Community Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD2 4BF, UK
3 Division of Community Health Sciences, St George's, University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Liam Smeeth, E-mail: liam.smeeth{at}lshtm.ac.uk


  Abstract

Study designs based on the identification of cases are frequently utilized when undertaking epidemiological research. Traditionally these have been mainly based on identification of cases from hospital records. This paper discusses the use of study designs based on the identification of cases focusing on their application to research data derived from primary care. The designs are discussed in the context of using computerized clinical data derived from primary care. The traditional case-control design is considered, with emphasis on the identification of cases and the selection of controls. A common problem when using primary care research databases is that information about potential confounding variables is often limited. Case-only designs, specifically the case-crossover and the within-person case-series, offer alternative designs that aim to overcome problems with confounding. The principles underlying these case-only designs are presented along with examples of their use. The advantages and limitations of the different designs are discussed.

Keywords: Primary care databases; case-control; case-only; methodology.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Fam PractHome page
M. Dawes and B. Delaney
Review articles on research methods for family practice researchers
Fam. Pract., October 1, 2006; 23(5): 489 - 489.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.