Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T03:31:12.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Case-Control Study in Psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Glyn Lewis*
Affiliation:
General Practice Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry
Anthony J. Pelosi
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry
*
Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, London SE5 8AF

Extract

Case-control studies involve ‘cases' being compared to ‘controls' with respect to ‘exposures', possible aetiological (or associated) factors. Associations between a disease and an exposure can be explained by chance, reverse causality, confounding and biases or, lastly, by causality. However, confounders as well as information and selection biases can be adjusted for at the design (or analysis) stage of the study. The strength of an association can be measured by means of relative risk, calculated indirectly using the odds ratio. Well conducted control studies should produce accurate estimates of relative risks in many psychiatric investigations.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amaducci, L. A., Fratiglioni, L., Rocca, W., et al (1986) Risk factors for clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease: a case-control study of an Italian population. Neurology, 36, 922931.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andreassen, S., Allebeck, P., Engstrom, A., et al (1987) Cannabis and schizophrenia: a longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet, ii, 14831485.Google Scholar
Baxter, L. R., Phelps, M. E., Mazziota, J. C., et al (1987) Local cerebral glucose metabolic rates in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 211218.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P., Hurry, J., Tennant, C., et al (1981) Epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell. Psychological Medicine, 11, 561579.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P., Sturt, E., Tennant, C., et al (1984) Misfortune and resilience: a community study of women. Psychological Medicine, 14, 347363.Google Scholar
Breslow, N. E. & Day, N. E. (1980) Statistical Methods in Cancer Research: Vol. 1, The Analysis of Case-Control Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. (1978) Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., Bifuloo, A. & Harris, T. O. (1987) Life events, vulnerability and the onset of depression: some refinements. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 3042.Google Scholar
Carroll, B. J., Feinberg, M., Greden, J. F., et al (1981) A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1522.Google Scholar
Coryell, W. & Tsuang, M. T. (1982) DSM–III schizophreniform disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 6669.Google Scholar
Craig, T. K. & Brown, G. W. (1984) Goal frustrating aspects of life events, stress and aetiology of gastro-intestinal disorder. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 28, 411421.Google Scholar
Doll, R. & Hill, A. B. (1952) A study of the aetiology of carcinoma of the lung. British Medical Journal, ii, 12711286.Google Scholar
Dunn, G. (1981) The role of linear models in psychiatric epidemiology. Psychological Medicine, 11, 179184.Google Scholar
Eaton, W. W. (1985) Epidemiology of schizophrenia. Epidemiologic Reviews, 7, 105126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardner, M. J. & Altman, D. G. (1986) Confidence intervals rather than P values: estimation rather than hypothesis testing. British Medical Journal, 292, 746750.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. & Huxley, P. (1980) Mental Illness in the Community. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Goldberg, E. M. & Morrison, S. L. (1963) Schizophrenia and social class. British Journal of Psychiatry, 109, 785802.Google Scholar
Henderson, A. S., Byrne, D. G. & Duncan-Jones, P. (1981) Neurosis and the Social Environment. Sydney: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hennekens, C. H. & Buring, J. E. (1987) Epidemiology in Medicine. Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Hill, A. B. (1965) The environment and disease: association or causation? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 58, 295300.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R. (1985) Sex differences in minor psychiatric disorder. Psychological Medicine, monograph no. 7.Google Scholar
Katz, R. & McGufftn, P. (1987) Neuroticism in familial depression. Psychological Medicine, 17, 155161.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. & Robson, K. M. (1984) A prospective study of emotional disorders in childbearing women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 3547.Google Scholar
Leete, R. & Fox, J. (1977) Registrar General's social classes: origins and uses. Population Trends, 8, 17.Google Scholar
Lewis, G. H., Pelosi, A. H., Glover, E., et al (1988) The development of a computerised assessment for minor psychiatric disorder. Psychological Medicine, 18, 737745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, S.W. & Murray, R. M. (1987) Obstetric complications, neurodevelopmental deviance and risk of schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 21, 413421.Google Scholar
Lloyd, G. & Lishman, A. (1976) The effect of depression on speed of recall of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. Psychological Medicine, 5, 173180.Google Scholar
Mantel, N. & Haenzel, W. (1959) Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 22, 719748.Google Scholar
McGuffin, P., Katz, R., Aldrich, J., et al (1988) The Camberwell collaborative depression study. II: Investigation of family members. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 766774.Google ScholarPubMed
Mukherjee, S., Rosen, A. M., Caracci, G., et al (1986) Persistent tardive dyskinesia in bipolar patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 342346.Google Scholar
Mullen, P. E., Linsell, C. R. & Parker, D. (1986) Influence of sleep disruption and calorie restriction on biological markers for depression. Lancet, ii, 10511054.Google Scholar
Raphael, K. (1987) Recall bias: a proposal for assessment for control. International Journal of Epidemiology, 16, 167170.Google Scholar
Rose, G. & Barker, D. J. P. (1978) Observer variation. British Medical Journal, ii, 10061007.Google Scholar
Rothman, K. (1986) Modern Epidemiology. Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Sackett, D. L. (1979) Bias in analytic research. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 32, 5163.Google Scholar
Schlesselman, J. J. (1982) Case Control Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M., Cooper, B., Brown, A. C., et al (1966) Psychiatric Illness in General Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, G. N., Iaoono, W. G., Moreau, M., et al (1988) Choice of comparison group and findings of computerised tomography in schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 667674.Google Scholar
Smith, P. G., Rodrigues, L. C. & Fine, P. E. M. (1984) Assessment of the protective efficacy of vaccines against common diseases using case-control and cohort studies. American Journal of Epidemiology, 13, 8793.Google Scholar
Stott, D. H. (1958) Some psychosomatic aspects of causality in reproduction. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 3, 4255.Google Scholar
Warr, P. (1987) Work, Unemployment and Mental Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, P., Tarnopolsky, A. & Hand, D. (1980) Case definition and case identification in psychiatric epidemiology: review and assessment. Psychological Medicine, 10, 101114.Google Scholar
Wolkind, S. & Coleman, E. Z. (1983) Adult psychiatric disorder and childhood experiences: the validity of retrospective data. British Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 188191.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.