The emergence of case-control studies in hypertension research: valid or misleading?

Recently published case-control studies have generated considerable controversy. Compared with prospective studies, case-control studies permit investigation of uncommon diseases or outcomes in a more cost and time efficient manner. In addition, multiple possible risk factors can be studied simultaneously. If the assumptions of the study design are met, results of case-control studies are valid. For this reason, the use of this study design has increased markedly. This review summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of this study design and criteria to evaluate the results of such studies.