title: The epidemiologic principles underlying traffic safety study designs.
abstract: This article describes the epidemiological principles underlying four observational study designs commonly used to assess traffic safety: the case-control, case-crossover, culpability and quasi-induced exposure designs. We focus in particular on the specific challenges for preventing bias using each design. Whereas recruiting controls representative of the source population poses a special challenge in case-control traffic safety studies, case-crossover designs are prone to recall bias, and culpability and quasi-induced exposure studies can be undermined by difficulties assigning crash responsibility. Using causal diagrams and worked examples, we provide a simple way to teach traffic safety designs to epidemiologists and to encourage proper application of epidemiological principles among researchers designing traffic safety studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: June H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA sjm2186@cumc.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Mooney
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D017751:Safety Management; D012941:Social Responsibility