ABSTRACT
Epidemiologists prospect during studies-that is, they look into the future for factors that explain the development of disease and other morbid conditions. They make a major commitment in time and resources by following groups of persons for years at a time and monitoring their exposure to risk factors and their incidence of disease and death. The prospective study also goes by names such as concurrent, follow-up, incidence, and longitudinal. There are variations of the prospective study in which large groups of persons are traced for extended periods of time. Some research designs start with a group of cases (those with disease) and follow them through time to study their disease process progression. Other prospective studies will match the cohort, called the study group, with another cohort, deemed the control group. However, the most common prospective study is the cohort study within which a group of persons without the disease are assessed periodically for long periods of time to see if there is a factor exposure and disease incidence relationship.
