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Article: Cohort Study
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
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COHORT STUDY
In the analytic method of epidemiological study called a cohort study, subsets of a defined population are identified and categorized on the basis of exposure to known levels of a risk factor that is believed to be associated with a disease outcome such as coronary heart disease or cancer. The numbers of persons in the total population and the numbers in each subset are known. All are followed over a period, usually years or even decades, and the disease outcomes are recorded and counted at specified periods. These outcomes may be the incidence of diagnosed disease, and/or deaths certified due to the disease being studied, as well as deaths due to other causes. The total ...