Introduction to Epidemiology 6th Edition by Ray M Merrill

Exercise 9

What are the primary sources of bias in cohort studies?

Step 1 of 2

Bias can be referred as the systemic error during the collection and interpretation of the data, obtained for an epidemiological study. During the designing of study, it is paramount that the bias should be identified and minimized, as this can cause deviation in the outcomes of the study.

Cohort can be described as the group of people. Cohort effect, also known as generation effect, can be defined as the alteration in the health status, or disorders of a population under study, due to the movement of the study group, through time. Hence, in these studies, with the passing time, the study group progresses through different time intervals of life. The factors affecting the health status and death rate are traced in these studies.