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Observational Study Design in Veterinary Pathology, Part 1: Study Design.

  • Caswell JL 1 Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
  • Bassel LL 1 Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
  • Rothenburger JL 2 Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
  • Gröne A 3 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  • Sargeant JM 4 Department of Population Medicine and Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
  • Beck AP 5 Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
  • Ekman S 6 Department of Biomedicine and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Gibson-Corley KN 7 Department of Pathology, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
  • Kuiken T 8 Department of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
  • LaDouceur EEB 9 Joint Pathology Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
  • Meyerholz DK 10 University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
  • Origgi FC 11 Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
  • Posthaus H 12 Institute of Animal Pathology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
  • Priestnall SL 13 Deparment Pathobiology & Population Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
  • Ressel L 14 Department of Veterinary Pathology and Public Health, Institute of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
  • Sharkey L 15 Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, N. Grafton, MA, USA.
  • Teixeira LBC 16 Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
  • Uchida K 17 Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Ward JM 18 GlobalVetPathology, Montgomery Village, MD, USA.
  • Webster JD 19 Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA.
  • Yamate J 20 Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Izumisano City, Osaka, Japan.
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  • 2018-08-04
Published in:
  • Veterinary pathology. - 2018
bias
case control
cohort
descriptive studies
epidemiology
hypothesis
laboratory medicine
observational studies
pathology
reproducibility of results
research design
study design
Animals
Observational Studies as Topic
Pathology, Veterinary
Research Design
English Observational studies are the basis for much of our knowledge of veterinary pathology and are highly relevant to the daily practice of pathology. However, recommendations for conducting pathology-based observational studies are not readily available. In part 1 of this series, we offer advice on planning and conducting an observational study with examples from the veterinary pathology literature. Investigators should recognize the importance of creativity, insight, and innovation in devising studies that solve problems and fill important gaps in knowledge. Studies should focus on specific and testable hypotheses, questions, or objectives. The methodology is developed to support these goals. We consider the merits and limitations of different types of analytic and descriptive studies, as well as of prospective vs retrospective enrollment. Investigators should define clear inclusion and exclusion criteria and select adequate numbers of study subjects, including careful selection of the most appropriate controls. Studies of causality must consider the temporal relationships between variables and the advantages of measuring incident cases rather than prevalent cases. Investigators must consider unique aspects of studies based on archived laboratory case material and take particular care to consider and mitigate the potential for selection bias and information bias. We close by discussing approaches to adding value and impact to observational studies. Part 2 of the series focuses on methodology and validation of methods.
Language
  • English
Open access status
bronze
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/22744
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