Cross-sectional (prevalence) studies

Cross-sectional or prevalence studies are simply a descriptive study which uses data collected in a planned way from a defined population. These studies can be thought of as providing a snapshot of the frequency of a disease or other health related characteristics (e.g. health variables), in a population at a given point in time. Cross-sectional studies are used to assess the burden of disease or health needs of a population and are particularly useful in informing and planning and allocation of health resources.

Surveys are often used in cross-sectional studies to collect data (cross sectional survey). These will be described in the next section.