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Follow-Up Study

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

  • 41 Accesses

Synonyms

Cohort study; Incidence study; Longitudinal study; Prospective study

Definition

A follow-up study, more commonly called a cohort study, has three basic components: exposure, time, and outcome. A group of individuals (the cohort) is assembled and then assessed at baseline on the exposure of interest (a risk or protective factor), other risk factors known to influence the outcome of interest (i.e., potential confounders), and the prevalence of the outcome of interest. Subjects who have the outcome (a disease) are excluded, and those remaining are followed over time to determine the development of the outcome. Incidence of the outcome is then compared in those with and without the exposure, controlling for extraneous confounders.

Description

Follow-up studies have various names derived from either study group (cohort studies), the timing of observation (follow-up, prospective or longitudinal studies), or the disease outcome (incidence studies). They begin with the assembly of a...

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References and Further Reading

  • Gordis, L. (2009). Epidemiology (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.

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  • Hedeker, D. R., & Gibbons, R. D. (2006). Longitudinal data analysis. Hoboken: Wiley.

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  • Little, R. J., & Rubin, D. B. (2019). Statistical analysis with missing data (3rd ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.

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  • Szklo, M., & Nieto, F. J. (2014). Epidemiology: Beyond the basics. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

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  • von Elm, E., Altman, D. G., Egger, M., Pocock, S. J., Gotzsche, P. C., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & STROBE Initiative. (2008). The strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 61(4), 344–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2007.11.008.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Lynda H. Powell, Brittney Lange-Maia & Imke Janssen

Authors
  1. Lynda H. Powell
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  2. Brittney Lange-Maia
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  3. Imke Janssen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lynda H. Powell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Pharmacy Practice, Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Buies Creek, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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Powell, L.H., Lange-Maia, B., Janssen, I. (2020). Follow-Up Study. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_314-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_314-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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