Case-Control Studies with Complex Sampling

The use of complex sampling designs in population-based case-control studies is becoming more common, particulary for sampling the control population. This is prompted by all the usual cost and logistical benefits conferred by multi-stage sampling. Complex sampling has often been ignored in analysis (see Graubard et al., 1989), but with the advent of packages like SUDAAN, survey-weighted analyses that take account of the sample design can be carried out routinely. This paper explores this approach and more efficient alternatives, which can also be implemented using readily available software.

Keywords:

Case-control studies , Correlated data , Intra-cluster correlation , Logistic regression , Multi-stage sampling.