RT Journal
A1 Busse, Jason W.
A1 Obremskey, William T.
T1 Principles of Designing an Orthopaedic Case-Control Study
JF The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery
JO The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery
YR 2009
FD May 1
VO 91
IS Supplement_3
SP 15
OP 20
DO 10.2106/JBJS.H.01570
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.H.01570
AB Many surgical questions are not amenable to investigation with a randomized controlled trial; thus, investigators must select an appropriate observational study design. Case-control studies are relatively inexpensive and can be conducted in comparatively little time. Although there are important methodological limitations associated with this trial design, case-control studies can provide important insight into the association between one or more exposures and a specific outcome. They are particularly useful when the outcome of interest is rare or when the time to development of the outcome is long. We present an overview of the case-control study, with a focus on trial design and interpretation of results.