Mb. Bracken, Methodological issues in the study of rare exposures and rare outcomes in perinatal epidemiology, J ALLERG CL, 103(2), 1999, pp. S354-S355
Epidemiologic study of rare exposures and rare outcomes is complicated. For
perinatal epidemiology, a prospective cohort study design is preferred for
reproductive outcomes with incidences of at least 5%. Case-control studies
are generally used to investigate rare outcomes with incidences from 5 per
1000 to less than 1 per 1000. However, obtaining data on large numbers of
rare cases can be difficult. The use of nested case-control designs or nest
ed prospective studies may be particularly useful in perinatal epidemiology
.