• Stefan Mathis and Gerald Gartlehner.
• Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Health Technology Assessment, Wien, Austria. stefan.mathis@hta.lbg.ac.at
• Wien Med Wochenschr. 2008 Jan 1; 158 (5-6): 174-9.

AbstractThis article about cohort studies is part of a methods series about study designs and their critical evaluation by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Health Technology assessment. This article aims to describe the theoretical concept of cohort studies and their typical characteristics. Furthermore, it strives to highlight advantages and disadvantages of this study type and to make suggestions for the critical evaluation of the significance and validity of cohort studies. The article gives an account about characteristics due to the observational design and ways of acquiring control groups. Problems of blurring results by selection bias and confounding are also discussed. Cohort studies are applied in situations where the effects of environmental exposures are measured and rare side effects are identified but randomised controlled studies did not show significant results because of limitations. They are also used to assess the incidence of a disease or a condition.

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