Cohort Studies: Prospective Studies

In prospective studies, group/s (cohort/s) of healthy people are followed through time and the epidemiologist observes whether lifestyle factors are related to occurence of disease. A prospective cohort study starts in the present time and waits for outcomes in the future.

Example: An epidemiologist wants to know whether people of the Christian faith have lower incidences of cancer than people with Muslim faith, so she conducts a prospective cohort study. After obtaining two groups-Christians and Muslim-she takes initial cancer incidence measures, then does a follow-up measure after some time as passed.