During a consultation about an NIH research grant, the term “case cohort design” came up. The Case Cohort design is similar to a nest Case Control design, but also has some important differences.
Here are two published examples of a Case Cohort design:
- Folsom AR, Nieto FJ, McGovern PG, Tsai MY, Malinow MR, Eckfeldt JH, Hess DL, Davis CE. Prospective study of coronary heart disease incidence in relation to fasting total homocysteine, related genetic polymorphisms, and B vitamins: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Circulation 1998: 98(3); 204-10. Available in html format or pdf format.
- Zeka A, Eisen EA, Kriebel D, Gore R, Wegman DH.Risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers in a case-cohort study of autoworkers exposed to metalworking fluids. Occup Environ Med 2004: 61(5); 426-31. Available in html format or pdf format.
And here are four published examples of a Nested Case Control design:
- Tamimi RM, Byrne C, Baer HJ, Rosner B, Schnitt SJ, Connolly JL, Colditz GA. Benign breast disease, recent alcohol consumption, and risk of breast cancer: a nested case-control study.Breast Cancer Res 2005: 7(4); R555-62. Available in html format or pdf format.
- Nguyen ND, Pongchaiyakul C, Center JR, Eisman JA, Nguyen TV. Abdominal fat and hip fracture risk in the elderly: the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2005: 6(1); 11. Available in html format or pdf format.
- Black C, Kaye JA, Jick H. Relation of childhood gastrointestinal disorders to autism: nested case-control study using data from the UK General Practice Research Database. Bmj 2002: 325(7361); 419-21. Available in html format or pdf format.
- Agerbo E, Nordentoft M, Mortensen PB. Familial, psychiatric, and socioeconomic risk factors for suicide in young people: nested case-control study. Bmj 2002: 325(7355); 74. Available in html format or pdf format.
When I get the time, I will prepare a formal definition of these two terms.