Write a report giving a critical appraisal of the case control study by Shaw et al., on "Risks of orofacial clefts in children born to women using multivitamins containing folic acid periconceptionally. The Lancet 1995; 345: 393-396” -- 2
Budget: ₹1,000 – ₹2,500 INR
In your report pay attention to the following.
1. Describe the design features that identify this as a case control study and discuss why the
authors chose this study design rather than a cohort study.
2. Evaluate the crude (unadjusted) association between “any maternal vitamin use in the period
from one month before to three months after conception” and being a “case” of orofacial cleft
vs control. Justify your choice of effect measure, interpret the meaning of the result in words as
well as numbers and discuss the strengths and limitations of this particular summary analysis.
3. Discuss the impact of the main features of the study design including the selection of cases and
controls; whether incident or prevalent cases were used; assessment of exposure; methods
used to control for confounding; separation of cases into several sub-groups.
4. Interpret the results of this paper and say whether, based on the evidence from this study
alone, you believe that maternal use of multivitamins that contain folic acid decreases the risk of
having a child with an orofacial cleft. Justify your interpretation.
1. Describe the design features that identify this as a case control study and discuss why the
authors chose this study design rather than a cohort study.
2. Evaluate the crude (unadjusted) association between “any maternal vitamin use in the period
from one month before to three months after conception” and being a “case” of orofacial cleft
vs control. Justify your choice of effect measure, interpret the meaning of the result in words as
well as numbers and discuss the strengths and limitations of this particular summary analysis.
3. Discuss the impact of the main features of the study design including the selection of cases and
controls; whether incident or prevalent cases were used; assessment of exposure; methods
used to control for confounding; separation of cases into several sub-groups.
4. Interpret the results of this paper and say whether, based on the evidence from this study
alone, you believe that maternal use of multivitamins that contain folic acid decreases the risk of
having a child with an orofacial cleft. Justify your interpretation.