Molecular evidence suggests a role for human papillomavirus (HPV) in the pathogenesis of oropharyngeal cancer. An epidemiologic study enrolled 100 hospitalized patients with newly diagnosed oropharyngeal cancer and 200 hospitalized patients without oropharyngeal cancer (controls). Oral HPV infection was strongly associated with oropharyngeal cancer, with 57 of the 100 patients with cancer having serologic evidence of HPV infection, compared with only 14 of the 200 patients without cancer.
Which type of study is this?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In this study, hospitalized patients with oropharyngeal cancer were compared to a control group of hospitalized patients without cancer. This is a case-control study design, specifically a retrospective study as patients were already diagnosed with cancer. The study is not a probability sample as it only includes hospitalized patients, and it is not a cohort study or experiment as it is not following a group of individuals over time or manipulating an exposure.

Molecular Evidence Suggests a Role for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in the Pathogenesis