case-control study

case-control study,

a nonexperimental research design using an epidemiologic approach in which previous cases of the condition are used in lieu of new information gathered from a randomized population. A group of patients with a particular disease or disorder, such as myocardial infarction, is compared with a control group of persons who have not had that medical problem. The two groups, matched for age, sex, and other personal data, are examined to determine which possible factor (e.g., cigarette smoking, coffee drinking) may account for the increased disease incidence in the case group. See also retrospective study.

---

case-control study,

n an investigation employing an epidemiologic approach in which previously existing incidents of a medical condition are used in lieu of gathering new information from a randomized population. Control is obtained by comparing known cases of the medical condition with a group of persons who have not developed the medical problem.

---

case

in epidemiology, an animal which has the specified disease or condition which is under investigation.

---

case abstract

a structured summary of a case report suitable for computer entry; permits machine sorting and retrieval and leads an investigator to the original paper records on which detailed descriptions must be based.

case-control sampling

selection of cases as a sample to use in a case-control study (below).

case-control study

a retrospective, analytical, epidemiological study. A group of pre-existing cases of the disease are matched with a selected group of control animals that do not have the disease so that the presence or otherwise of an hypothesized disease determinant can be ascertained in both groups.

case fatality rate

the proportion of cases with a specified condition which die within a specified time.

case finding

the strategy of surveying a population to find the sick animals that are the foci of infection; an essential early step in the eradication of any disease.

case history

the collected data concerning an individual, contact and related animals, environment and management procedures, including any past medical history and any other information that may be useful in analyzing and diagnosing the case or for instructional or research purposes.

index case

the first case recorded in an outbreak.

case management

care of a sick animal including specific and supportive medication, surgical intervention, housing, bedding, nutrition, restraint, collection of specimens for submission to laboratory or stall-side tests.

case population

the group of animals in the total population which are sick or infected, as distinct from the control population, which are not sick or infected.

case recording

entry in records of the clinical findings of individual sick animals. May be structured or unstructured, paper or machine, with or without the accounting record for the case.