title: [Clinical research XI. From the clinical judgment to the case and controls design].
abstract: The case-control design like the historical cohort carries a number of potential biases as a consequence of the reconstruction of events once the outcome has occurred, and as a consequence of the bias generated by the selection of the control group. This design is characterized by a number of cases (cases), for which we identify a comparison group (controls). It begins at the outcome in direction to the probable cause; therefore, it requires reconstructing events in the opposite direction as it occurs in the phenomenon of causality. However, we must always keep in mind the architectural design, and consider in each section--baseline, maneuver and outcome--characteristics that allow us to demonstrate the effect of the maneuver, avoiding improper assembly, susceptibility, performance and detection bias. The transfer bias can only be controlled with the provision of a defined population, whether it is a population based case-control study or a case-control study nested in a cohort. When a defined population is not possible, this design is only recommended in rare diseases.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Adiestramiento en Investigación Clínica, Coordinación de Investigación en Salud, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Distrito Federal, México. jotalaverap@uaemex.mx
authors.forename: Juan O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Talavera
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rivas-Ruiz
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans