[Research methods in clinical cardiology (II). Observational studies (II): natural history and prognosis in cardiology. Methodology].
Epidemiology has been defined as "the study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human populations". Therefore, epidemiology has developed study design strategies to provide different approaches to research etiology and causal inference. Among the analytic observational studies, prospective cohort designs are mainly used to test epidemiologic hypotheses. This paper describes the basic concepts of the design, conduct, analysis, and interpretation of these studies, we have emphasized the unique strengths and limitations of the cohort study design that must be taken into account.
Varas Lorenzo
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Departamento de Cardiología, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona.
Tomás Abadal
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D002309:Cardiology / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis; D012107:Research Design; D012307:Risk Factors