Characteristics and Design of a Cohort study

The textbook used for this class is Epidemiology by Leon Gordis the fifth edition.”Read “2020 LHI Topics,” located on the Healthy People 2020 website.”URL:https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-LHI-Topics1. Describe the characteristics and design of a cohort study. Based on a disease or health condition identified from the “2020 LHI Topics” on the Healthy People 2020 website, or an article from the GCU library, discuss a real example of a cohort study (include the link to the article in your post to the forum). Include the participants, exposures or treatment groups, timeframe, and outcomes that were measured. Why is a cohort study described as an “observational” study rather than an “experimental” study design?EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE PROFESSOR GIVE US IN THE DISCUSSION:Cohort studiesCohort studies can be retrospective or perspective. Retrospective cohort studies are NOT the same as case-control studies.In retrospective cohort studies, the exposure and outcomes have already happened. They are usually conducted on data that already exists (from prospective studies) and the exposures are defined before looking at the existing outcome data to see whether exposure to a risk factor is associated with a statistically significant difference in the outcome development rate.Prospective cohort studies are more common. People are recruited into cohort studies regardless of their exposure or outcome status. This is one of their important strengths. People are often recruited because of their geographical area or occupation, for example, and researchers can then measure and analyze a range of exposures and outcomes.The study then follows these participants for a defined period to assess the proportion that develops the outcome/disease of interest. See Figure 2 for a pictorial representation of a cohort study design. Therefore, cohort studies are good for assessing prognosis, risk factors, and harm. The outcome measure in cohort studies is usually a risk ratio / relative risk (RR).