Section outline

  • Observational Designs and Studies of Diagnostic Tests

    Review common study designs, discuss how to choose what's right for your research question; also describe studies of diagnostic tests.

    Faculty: Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo

    Faculty Bio: Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS is the Lee Goldman, MD Endowed Chair in Medicine, Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Professor of Medicine. She is the inaugural Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Equity in the UCSF School of Medicine. Dr. Bibbins-Domingo co-founded the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, a research center focused on discovery, implementation, policy, advocacy, and community engagement for communities at risk for poor health and inadequate healthcare. She is one of the PIs of the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute.


    Faculty: Warren Browner

    Faculty Bio:  Dr. Warren Browner is CEO of California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), a Senior Scientist in the CPMC Research Institute, and Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UCSF.  He previously was Chief of General Internal Medicine and Acting Chief of the Medical Service at the San Francisco VA, and Vice President, Academic Affairs at CPMC.  He received an A.B. from Harvard, an M.D. from UCSF, and an M.P.H. in Epidemiology from Berkeley; he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in clinical epidemiology at UCSF. He has been a member of panels for the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the Food and Drug Administration, and the California Hospital Association’s Hospital Quality Institute. He is the author of  Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, a co-author of Designing Clinical Research, and was the Executive Editor of the  American Journal of Medicine; He received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the UCSF Academic Senate in 1988; was one of UCSF’s 125 Distinguished Employees in 1989; and one of 150 Distinguished Alumni of UCSF in 2015. He serves on the Board of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and is the Immediate Past-Chair of the Board of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. He has lived in San Francisco since 1975, when he moved here to attend medical school.

    • Lecture Slides:

    • Lecture 4 (Warren Browner) Slides File
    • Lecture 4 (Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo) Slides File

    • Lecture Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Lecture 4 (Warren Browner) - Observational Study Designs and Studies of Diagnostic Tests URL
      Not available unless: You belong to Registered Students Only

    • Large Group Discussion (Access restricted to registered students): Brief formal review of lecture followed by question and answer discussion. Recorded lecture should be viewed prior to this session.

    • Lecture 4 Discussion Recording Media Resource
      Not available unless: You belong to a group in Registered Students Only

    • Assignment 4:

    • Assignment 4 File
    • Assignment 4 Example File

    • Materials:

    • Optional reading from Warren Browner:

    • Newman & Browner 1988 AJPH Epidemiology of Life and Death File

    • Optional reading on study design:

    • Page proofs, Evidence-Based Diagnosis (EBD) Chapter 10 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Example of a nested case-control study (Vit D and Colorectal cancer). Wu JNCI 2007;99:-1120-9 File

    • Optional reading on chart review methods (example of Measurements methods):

    • Gilbert 1996 AnnEmergMed Chart review methods File

    • Optional reading on case-control studies:

    • Vandenbroucke Int J Epidemiol 2012 File
    • Wacholder AJE 1992 File