Current view of epidemiologic study designs for occupational and environmental lung diseases

Epidemiologic studies long have played a role in the understanding of the effects of the general environment and various occupational exposures on the occurrence of acute and chronic diseases of the lung. This article is an overview of epidemiologic study designs that have particular relevance to studies of environmental and occupational lung disease. The application of times-series designs in the context of epidemiologic studies is discussed, as such designs have become widely used in studies of health effects ambient air pollution. The article emphasizes recent developments in the application of case-control study designs, many of which have had particular applications in epidemiologic studies related to environmental and occupational lung disease. These case-control designs offer efficient and valid alternatives for studies that in the past might have been conducted as more costly and time-consuming cohort studies.