QuestionSBA
QuestionChoice
This is correct. Case-control studies are the most efficient design for rare diseases to investigate exposures as known cases of DiGeorge syndrome can be matched to controls and retrospectively investigated.
10035927
a
Case-Control study
QuestionChoice
Cohort studies are not efficient as they involve splitting people by exposures and following them up over time to assess whether a given outcome occurs. If a disease occurs very infrequently, you would have to follow a large group of people for a long period to accrue enough incident cases to study, which is both very time- and resource-intensive.
10035928
b
Cohort study
QuestionChoice
This study design involves surveying people at a particular point in time to gather a range of opinions on a particular topic and would not be suitable for assessing temporal exposures.
10035930
d
Cross-sectional study
QuestionChoice
This is an interventional study design which splits cases of interest into treatment and control groups and follows them over time to assess outcomes. This study design is not an observational study.
10035929
c
Randomised controlled trial
QuestionChoice
Expert opinions may well prove valuable in guiding study design but are very low down the hierarchy of evidence and there may exist significant disagreement before the development of rigorous studies.
10035931
e
Expert witness interviewing
Concept
Chapter
2693
6167
Study Design
Topic
335
Social and population health
19589
Case-control studies are ideal for investigating rare diseases like DiGeorge syndrome by comparing known cases with matched controls for exposure history.
A researcher is attempting to design a study which investigates gestational risk factors for the development of DiGeorge syndrome, which has an incidence of 1 in 6000.

What is the most optimal study design in this case?
a