• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Health Writer Hub

Health Writer Hub

Medical Writing Courses & Certification

  • Writing Courses
    • Free Course
    • Breaking Into Health Writing
    • Introduction to Health Writing
    • Principles of Health & Medical Copywriting
    • Freelance Writing Course
    • How to Write Patient Education Materials
    • Medical Editing Course
    • Build Your Portfolio Masterclass
  • Tools
    • Health Writing Template Package
    • Freelance Health Writer Business Planner
    • Article Pitching Guide
  • Blog
  • Reviews
  • About
    • Accreditation
    • Contact
    • Subscribe

What is an observational study?

Learn what makes observational studies just as valuable as experimental studies for medical writers.

LAST UPDATED March 21, 2021 | FIRST PUBLISHED August 2, 2016 | BY Dinethra Menon

LinkedInFacebookTweetPinPrintEmail

What makes observational studies just as valuable as experimental studies for medical writers?

Although you may regularly source experimental studies for your writing, observational studies are also an important supplement of medical evidence.

Understanding when to use a well-designed observation study can make a difference to your writing.

When used in conjunction with experimental studies, they together can form powerful evidence for your writing.

What is an observational study, and why is it useful for medical writers?

Observational studies are different to experimental studies as they solely observe subjects and measure disease variables without assigning treatments.

However, the differences between the experimental and observational study designs can be used as complementary tools.

Research information from observation studies is sourced from natural environments that give context to experimental medical information.

Knowing the meaning behind research help answer medical questions, such as the benefit of a medical therapy for a patient population.

The types of contextual information you can obtain from observation studies are:

  • Prevalence
  • Incidence and natural history of a medical condition
  • Causes or risk factors of medical conditions
  • Prognosis
  • Associations between the medical condition and exposure to risk factors or medical interventions
  • Trends
  • Behaviour
IHW course outline blog post opt in - updated design from 11/1/2023
Enter your email for a free course outline.

Want to learn more about health writing?

Introduction to Health Writing Course

Enhance your health writing skills.

Learn how to write health news, feature articles, web content and blogs.

Enter your email for a free course outline!

You'll also join 20,000+ others who receive our regular emails. Opt out at any time. View our Terms and Privacy Policy.

Loading

What to look for in a high-quality observational study

Well-designed observations studies can provide valid results.

They can look at diverse population health observed in a range of settings, and they can provide useful analytical information.

There are a few key questions you may consider when you’re reading studies to help you select a high-quality design.

  • How many patients were lost in the follow-up? Check that it is not significant to cause a difference in the groups for study bias.
  • Is the study design appropriate for the research question?
  • Is there a distinction between prevalent and incident cases?
  • Are the control patients similar to the case patients? (Other than having the exposure).
  • Is the sample size adequate and evenly distributed across groups?
  • Do estimates appear precise?
  • Is causality attributed?
  • Have alternative explanations for the outcome been considered and eliminated?
  • Are results explained in the context of existing literature?

Types of observational study designs

There are three main types of observational study designs.

The different study designs are based on the research question (hypothesis), sample size and timeline of data collection.

  1. Cohort

In cohort studies, all the subjects have exposed to a risk factor (such as cigarette smoke) or a surgical intervention to evaluate the development of an outcome (disease state or medical complication).

Because subjects are selected by their exposure status, cohort studies can be useful studies to assess the benefit of rare exposures.

A single study could also look at multiple outcome variables from a single exposure. For example, the effects of cigarette smoke on lung, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.

Cohort studies can also be useful to learn more about disease progression, staging and natural history of a condition. They are investigated over a period of time and we will discuss what this means later.

  1. Cross sectional

Cross-sectional studies look at both exposure and outcome for each participant at a single point in time.

The main difference from cohort or case-controlled studies is some subjects may not be exposed to risks or develop the outcome of interest.

The study design has been described as a ‘snap shot’ of a diverse group of individuals in a range of settings.

Cross-sectional observation studies are useful for understanding the prevalence, causation, treatments, services and other factors associated with outcomes of medical conditions.

  1. Case-control

Case control studies look at patients with a known outcome (cases), who are compared to individuals without exposure to known risk factors (control).

They are useful for rare conditions or to assess what makes outcomes different in populations who have the same exposure to risks.

The study design makes it useful to predict whether a specific variable or multiple exposures influences the development of a disease. This makes these study designs useful to calculate odds ratios for disease.

What are retrospective and prospective studies?

You may have heard about the different lengths of time observational studies are conducted.

  • Retrospective studies follow up data that has been collected for other purposes and then analysed for the purposes of the study hypothesis. The data collected can occur over a number of years and the studies are often cheaper to investigate.
  • Prospective studies are carried out from the present time into the future. They are designed with specific data collection methods, which means prospective studies can be tailored to collect specific exposure data.

However the long follow-up period means it can take a while before outcomes (disease or medical conditions) can be measured.

Browse the other articles in our clinical evidence series here:

  • When to use case studies in your writing
  • What are randomised controlled trials?
  • Understanding systematic reviews and meta analyses

LinkedInFacebookTweetPinPrintEmail

Filed Under: Health writing

About Dinethra Menon

Dinethra Menon is a medical and science writer with over a decade of experience communicating and writing medical education for doctors. She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Melbourne and a postgraduate diploma in genetic counseling. Connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on Twitter - @dinethra_menon or check out her Facebook page, Living With Hereditary Disease.

Dinethra is a member of the Health Writer Hub Alumni.

New to health writing?

Our Breaking Into Health Writing course is the perfect starting point for beginner health writers. You'll explore career options, essential skills, writing styles, in-demand niches, networking, marketing and payment options. After you complete this course, you'll be ready to plan your career transition.

LEARN MORE

Primary Sidebar

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

EXPLORE A CAREER IN HEALTH & MEDICAL WRITING IMPROVE MY HEALTH WRITING SKILLS BECOME A HEALTH & MEDICAL COPYWRITER WRITE PATIENT EDUCATION MATERIALS IMPROVE MY EDITING SKILLS BECOME A FREELANCE HEALTH WRITER

DIGITAL TOOLS

health writing template package
article pitching guide
freelance health writing business planner

BROWSE BLOG TOPICS

  • 30-day writing challenges
  • AI for health writers
  • Digital tools
  • Freelance health writing
  • Getting started as a health writer
  • Growing your career
  • Health & medical editing
  • Health blogging
  • Health communication research
  • Health copywriting
  • Health writing
  • How to be a more confident writer
  • Readability and plain english
  • Writing about COVID-19
Health writing courses

Not sure which course is right for you?

Get in touch, and let's have a chat about your skills and experience.

HELP ME CHOOSE

Footer

Join 20,000+ writers who are learning now. Get the latest health writing advice and course news.

Opt out at any time.

SUPPORT

Contact
FAQ
Payment
Disclaimer
Terms
Refunds

ABOUT

About us
Student feedback
Alumni
Accreditation
Subscribe

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Courses

Health writing
Freelancing
Medical copywriting
Medical editing
Health marketing
Career course
View all courses

Health Writer Hub © 2023. All Rights Reserved. I acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where I live, learn and work.

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!