🧪 Design (Clinical Research) [Neurosurgery Wiki]

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====== 🧪 Design (Clinical Research) ======

**Design** refers to:

> **The structured plan or framework that defines how a clinical or scientific study is conducted to answer a specific research question.**

===== 🔍 Key Components of Study Design =====
  * 🎯 **Objective** – The aim or hypothesis of the study
  * 🧠 **Type of study** – e.g., observational, interventional, prospective, retrospective
  * 👥 **Population** – Inclusion/exclusion criteria, demographics
  * 🧪 **Intervention or Exposure** – What is tested or observed
  * 📊 **Comparison group** – Control, placebo, or alternative exposure
  * 📈 **Outcome measures** – Defined primary and secondary endpoints
  * 🔍 **Blinding and allocation** – Methods to reduce bias

===== 🎓 Common Study Designs =====

^ Study Type ^ Description ^
| **Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)** | Participants are randomly assigned to intervention or control groups |
| **Cohort Study** | Observes outcomes in exposed vs. non-exposed individuals over time |
| **Case-Control Study** | Retrospective comparison of patients with and without an outcome |
| **Cross-Sectional Study** | Analyzes data at a single point in time |
| **Retrospective Study** | Uses existing data to examine past events |
| **Systematic Review / Meta-analysis** | Aggregates data from multiple studies to derive stronger evidence |