QuestionSBA
QuestionChoice
Cross-sectional studies are observational studies, so no intervention (drug) is given. They are carried out at a single point in time, assessing the prevalence of disease in groups exposed to risk factors and those not exposed to the risk factor. As the exposure and disease factors are measured at the same time, it is difficult to establish cause and effect.
10027197
b
Cross-sectional study, as this is good for assessing cause and effect
QuestionChoice
Case-control studies are a type of observational study where a group with a disease and a group of controls without the disease are selected, and their past exposure (risk factor) status is compared, and are not used to assess the effect of an intervention (drug). All observational studies, such as case-control studies, are subject to influence by confounding factors.
10027198
c
Case-control study, as this decreases the change that results are affected by confounding factors
QuestionChoice
Cohort studies involve the classification of participants based on their risk factor status at baseline, and following-up to determine who develops the disease outcome. This requires large numbers of participants, resulting in cohort studies being time-consuming and expensive. Cohort studies are not used to assess the efficacy of an intervention.
10027199
d
Cohort study, as this is cheaper and quicker than other types of observational study
QuestionChoice
A randomised control trial (RCT) is an interventional trial and is used to assess the efficacy of a particular intervention (e.g. treatment for a specific disease). The act of randomising the participants reduces confounding factors and bias, so any differences in outcome can be attributed to the effect of the intervention- in this case, the new drug.
10027196
a
Randomised control trial, as you can attribute any differences in observed outcome to the new drug
QuestionChoice
One of the weaknesses of randomised control trials is that they often don’t mimic the clinical, real-life treatment situation, for example, due to the trial being a highly controlled setting, often with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria.
10027200
e
Randomised control trial, as this mimics the clinical real-life treatment situation
Concept
Chapter
2693
5964
Clinical trials
Topic
222
General pharmacology
17837
A group of researchers would like to assess the clinical efficacy of a new drug.

Which of the following study designs would be most appropriate for this and why?
a