title: The use and interpretation of quasi-experimental studies in infectious diseases.
abstract: Quasi-experimental study designs, sometimes called nonrandomized, pre-post-intervention study designs, are ubiquitous in the infectious diseases literature, particularly in the area of interventions aimed at decreasing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Little has been written about the benefits and limitations of the quasi-experimental approach. This article outlines a hierarchy of quasi-experimental study design that is applicable to infectious diseases studies and that, if applied, may lead to sounder research and more-convincing causal links between infectious diseases interventions and outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. aharris@epi.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Anthony D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Douglas D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Bradham
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baumgarten
authors.forename: Ilene H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
authors.forename: Jeffrey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Eli N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Perencevich
mesh_terms: D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends*