dr.shar
Forum Elite
Topics: 38
Posts: 236
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The use of matching as a technique
to control for confounding is
most appropriate for which type of
study?
a. A large-scale cohort study
b. A case-control study with a small
number of cases
c. A clinical trial with a factorial
design
d. A cross-sectional study with multiple
variables
e. A correlation study with a small
number of countries
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| dr.shar
Forum Elite
Topics: 38
Posts: 236
|
Matching is a technique
used in the design of the study to control for confounding. Subjects
enrolled in a study are matched for age, gender, smoking, or any variable
that is not being analyzed. This technique is not used for large cohort studies
as it would often be too time-consuming, restrictive, and expensive to
find a match for each subject entering the study. Therefore, controlling for
confounding is done in the analysis when a large group is recruited. Matching
is mainly used when dealing with small case-control studies where the
number of subjects enrolled would be too small to yield statistical results if
stratified by subgroups. Randomization is used in clinical trials to control
confounding (sample size needs to be large—see the answer to question
20). Matching cannot be used in correlation studies or cross-sectional studies:
these are descriptive studies to assess disease occurrence and they do
not have control groups to test a hypothesis.
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