Epidemiology and Population Health
This study will focus on the relationship between smoking and lung cancer, the link that has been established in the literature. The first is to establish the effect that long-term smoking has on the occurrence of lung cancer in adults in the age group 35-65 years. The research question guiding the study is: ‘How does long-term smoking impact lung cancer rates among adults in the age range of 35-65 years?’ The paper will, therefore, explain the appropriate epidemiological study design, processes of data gathering, sampling techniques, and ethical issues pertinent to this investigation.
Explain the Epidemiologic Study Design that Would be Most Appropriate to Assess and Address your Population Health Problem.
The study design more suitable for investigating the association between smoking and lung cancer is a case-control study. This design is suitable for analyzing diseases with low prevalence levels, such as lung cancer in this case, as opposed to analyzing health outcomes that are frequently witnessed in the population. A case-control study can be used in a cross-sectional study of smoking exposure because one can note patients who had lung cancer and compare them with patients without such disease (Munnangi & Boktor, 2020). It is less expensive than a cohort study, requires less time than a cohort study, and enables the assessment of various risk factors, such as the amount and length of time of smoking. Also, a case-control study is important when studying diseases of long duration, such as lung cancer, which may take several years or decades to manifest.
Summarize the Data Collection Activities You Would Use
In this case-control study, the main data collection technique shall be interviews, which shall be structured. These interviews will aim to provide more specific data on the case and control subjects about smoking history, the age at which subjects started smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and any history of attempts to quit smoking (Tenny & Hoffman, 2019). Moreover, questions for constructing variables of other sources of exposure, including second-hand smoke exposure, family history of cancer, or environmental and occupational exposure to carcinogens, will also be posed to identify possible confounding factors.
Semi-structured interviews will be face-to-face or via the telephone, depending on the participants’ availability. Additional data will be collected from case and control subjects through medical record review to support cancer diagnosis in reported cases and to look for smoking-induced diseases among case and control subjects (DeJonckheere & Vaughn, 2019). The collection of data from multiple sources will enhance the accuracy of measuring exposure and health status and, in essence, minimize the influence of recall bias.
Explain any Specific Methodologic Strategies You Would Use
The choice of controls in a case-control study is important to eliminate bias as much as possible. Patients for this study will be identified from hospital records, cancer registries, or oncology clinics, and all should have been diagnosed with lung cancer within the last two years. This helps eliminate cases that may contain survival bias and ensures that the cases are current. Cases will be controls selected from the general population, and care will be taken to ensure that the control group is matched to the cases in terms of age, sex, and socioeconomic status (Tenny & Hoffman, 2019). Matching controls for factors that may vary between cases and controls other than smoking status. To increase the validity of the study, two control groups shall be selected for each case. This makes it easier to identify the differences between the groups and offers a more accurate analysis. Since lung cancer is less frequent than smoking, the use of more controls will again offset the small number of relevant cases available for research.
Strengths and Limitations of Your Selected Approach
Some of the main advantages of case-control studies include their ability to study rare outcomes, their cost as compared to other methods, and their ability to study more than one risk factor at a time (Dey et al., 2020). Nevertheless, this approach has some drawbacks. This includes recall bias, which may exist because participants might not accurately recall their smoking behavior, including the frequency and time. Another limitation is selection bias, which can occur if the control group is not well chosen in relation to the cases (Dey et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the case-control study is still worthwhile to investigate the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.
Explain Ethical Considerations Pertaining to Your Study
Ethics issues are relevant in this study, particularly addressing the subject of lung cancer as a disease. Informed consent is mandatory for the participants to be made aware of the purpose of the study, the techniques to be employed, and any attendant risks (Olejarczyk & Young, 2024). It is important to retain anonymity at this stage, especially where medical and other personal information will be captured. It will be explained to the participants that the collected data will only be used for research, and any report will contain anonymous data only.
Some of the participants might be stressed when giving their details about lung cancer or their smoking history, thus requiring psychological support. This support will be available through consultation with counselors if required (Choi et al., 2019). In addition, information will be collected from participants, and the process of enlisting the participants will also be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in an effort to meet the set ethical standards. Another important aspect is the declaration of funding sources, which does not involve conflicts of interest; for example, funding from tobacco producers is vital for the credibility of the study.
To sum up, this paper suggests a case-control study to examine the relationship between long-term smoking and lung cancer in adults 35-65 years old. Data will be gathered through structured interviews and medical record reviews, with controls selected to reduce bias and matched respectively to each case. Such measures as informed consent from the participants, privacy, and their welfare will be respected. Despite its shortcomings of recall and selection bias, this study design is ideal for establishing the link between smoking and lung cancer.
References
Choi, S. H., Chan, R. R., & Lehto, R. H. (2019). Relationships between smoking status and psychological distress, optimism, and health environment perceptions at time of diagnosis of actual or suspected lung cancer. Cancer Nursing, 42(2), 156–163. https://doi.org/10.1097/ncc.0000000000000579
DeJonckheere, M., & Vaughn, L. M. (2019). Semistructured interviewing in primary care research: A balance of relationship and rigour. Family Medicine and Community Health, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2018-000057
Dey, T., Mukherjee, A., & Chakraborty, S. (2020). A practical overview of case-control studies in clinical practice. Chest, 158(1), S57–S64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.03.009
Munnangi, S., & Boktor, S. W. (2020). Epidemiology of study design. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470342/
Olejarczyk, J., & Young, M. (2024). Patient rights and ethics. National Library of Medicine; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538279/
Tenny, S., & Hoffman, M. R. (2019). Case control studies. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448143/
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
We’ll write everything from scratch
Question 
For this Assignment, you will identify an epidemiologic association of interest (e.g., smoking and lung cancer, obesity and heart disease, hormone replacement/modification therapy and breast cancer) and determine an appropriate study design for exploring that association.
- Consider an association between a risk factor and a particular health outcome that is of interest to you. Table 2.2, in Curley, has some excellent options. You may use this to guide your selection of topics or select your own population health topic.
- Then, select an observational OR experimental study design you think would be the most appropriate for exploring this association. You may select from any of the designs covered in this module.
Epidemiology and Population Health
The Assignment
In a 3- to 4-page paper, not including title page and references, address the following:
- Briefly identify the population health topic (association between a risk factor and a health outcome) you selected. Present a research question based on this topic that you would like to answer in a proposed study. (Consult the Walden “Developing Research” resource for guidance on crafting a research question.)
- Explain the epidemiologic study design that would be most appropriate to assess and address your population health problem.
- Summarize the data collection activities you would use (i.e., how you would collect data—online survey, paper/pen, mailing, etc.).
- Explain any specific methodologic strategies you would use. For example, if you were conducting a case-control study, how would you select your cases and controls?
- Consider the methods you would use to make these selections. What are the strengths and limitations of your selected approach?
- Explain ethical considerations pertaining to your study.