RT Book, Section
A1 Shaw, Gary M.
A2 Stevenson, David K.
A2 Cohen, Ronald S.
A2 Sunshine, Philip
SR Print(0)
ID 1109791069
T1 Epidemiology of Structural Birth Defects and Preterm Birth
T2 Neonatology: Clinical Practice and Procedures
YR 2015
FD 2015
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071763769
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1109791069
RD 2023/11/29
AB Epidemiology  is  the  study  of  the  distributions  and  the  etiologic  factors  of  diseases  in  human  populations.  Epidemiologists  employ  a  variety  of  designs  and  statistical  procedures  to  identify  and  assess  potential  etiologic  factors.  Unless  a  particular  exposure  (procedure)  is  beneficial,  most  studies  cannot  ethically  be  experimental  in  design,  such  as  randomized  clinical  trials.  Therefore,  epidemiologists  are  typically  relegated  to  conducting  observational  studies  of  populations.  As  a  contrast,  in  experimental  studies,  the  investigator  has  much  more  “control”  over  the  many  exposures  study  subjects  may  encounter,  whereas  in  observational  studies,  the  investigator  is  relegated  to  being  an  “observer”  of  the  exposure  of  subjects  in  a  study  population.  In  some  instances,  such  exposures  may  not  be  known  or  cannot  be  adequately  controlled  for.  Thus,  observational  epidemiology  studies  provide  us  with  associations  and  do  not  “establish”  causation.