Cross‐sectional studies – what are they good for?

Abstract

Cross-sectional studies serve many purposes, and the cross-sectional design is the most relevant design when assessing the prevalence of disease, attitudes and knowledge among patients and health personnel, in validation studies comparing, for example, different measurement instruments, and in reliability studies. This paper describes the use of cross-sectional studies and provides examples within obstetrics and gynecology. Caveats are also described; for example, when cross-sectional data is used for analytical purposes of associations between an exposure and an outcome, authors and readers should be careful not to make causal inferences, unless the exposure may safely be assumed to be stable over time and not influenced by experiencing the outcome. In such cases, analyses are also subject to selection and information bias as well as confounding.

Accuracy and Reliability of Lung Ultrasound to Diagnose Transient Tachypnoea of the Newborn: Evidence from a Meta-analysis and Systematic Review

“…To make this review more accurate and reliable, we did not include cross-sectional studies, 11,12,20 since they provide only weak evidence between exposures and outcomes. 21,22 TTN is frequently misdiagnosed and treated, as NRDS solely based on CXR findings, which could lead to adverse outcomes. 23 LUS shows good performance in diagnosing TTN and could easily differentiate TTN from etiologies of RD and normal lung in neonates.…”

Outdoor circuit test: construction and validation of an instrument for the prediction of cardiorespiratory capacity for older adults

“…The present study adopted a cross-sectional approach, as it evaluates an instantaneous section of a population by means of sampling 11 , in which the accuracy of the Outdoor Circuit Test (OCT) was determined by evaluating its validity and reliability. Validity was determined by comparing the data from the maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and the OCT, while reliability was defined through the reproducibility of the OCT measurements.…”

Inova��o em pesquisa na enfermagem psiqui�trica: coleta de dados informatizada

“…Isso se torna mais preocupante ao ter dimensão dos inúmeros vieses que podem incorporar as pesquisas -viés das operações de amostragem; viés das perdas; viés de prevalência; viés do observador; viés da suspeita diagnóstica; viés do instrumento de coleta dos dados; viés de recordação; viés de processamento da informação, entre outros (4)(5) .…”

“…A prevenção dos vieses (erros sistemáticos) na etapa de delineamento do estudo é crucial para a garantia da validade externa e da credibilidade dos resultados das pesquisas científicas (4)(5) . Desse modo, a qualidade das pesquisas não deve ser avaliada somente ao seu término, mas ser objeto de preocupação durante suas diferentes etapas.…”