Case-control studies are a type of quantitative research "designed to sample a group of people with and a group of people without the disease or the outcome measure being studied" (Schmidt & Brown, 2019, p. 209). The cases are individuals with the disease or outcome measure, and the controls are individuals without the disease or outcome measure. The purpose of a case-control study is to test whether there is an association between an exposure and a disease, condition or outcome measure (Schmidt & Brown, 2019, p. 209).
JBI Level of Evidence (under Levels of Evidence for Diagnosis):
3.b - Diagnostic Case-Control Study
For more information, please refer to the JBI Levels of Evidence (LOE) Information in your Blackboard course site (under Module 7) or see Dr. Reuille's LOE document below:
Each JBI Checklist provides tips and guidance on what to look for to answer each question. These tips begin on page 4.
Below are some additional Frequently Asked Questions about the Case-Control Studies Checklist that have been asked by students in previous semesters.
| Frequently Asked Question | Response |
| In regards to Question 6, what exactly is a confounding factor? | A confounder or confounding factor/confounding variable is often referred to as a third variable that could potentially impact the study's results. See the definition in the Cochrane Glossary. Confounding factors/variables or confounders may be listed in the study's limitations section or within the study's main results section. |
| For Question 7, how can I tell whether strategies were used to deal with the confounding factors in the study? | Check for multivariate analysis or regression analysis in the study's data analysis/statistical analysis section. See the definition in the Cochrane Glossary. |