Knipschild P G
Tijdschr Diergeneeskd. 1986 Mar 1;111(5):229-34.
Veterinarians in small animal practices are constantly confronted with problems concerning the aetiology, diagnosis and prognosis of certain diseases. Those who would like to do epidemiological studies, are inclined not to choose just a single item, but to approach matters on a large scale. The possibilities offered by computers give rise to the belief that, provided a lot of time is spent on recording, the answers to various questions will roll out of the machine almost of their own accord. And this is not true. Adequate studies start with a single relevant statement of a problem. Ample attention should then be paid to the planning of the study, including all merits and demerits. Studies solely concerned with the occurrence of a disease are usually dull and not very informative, Investigations will not become interesting as a rule until efforts are made to relate forms of disease to particular risk factors, signs and symptoms or prognostic factors. Instances are given in the present paper. The relevance of studies associated with small animal practices is considerably increased when investigations are also carried out in these practices. Finally, the fact is stressed that a beginning veterinarian-investigator will be better off on purchasing a good textbook of epidemiology than a personal computer.
从事小动物医疗的兽医经常面临某些疾病的病因、诊断和预后方面的问题。那些想要进行流行病学研究的人，往往不会只选择一个单一项目，而是倾向于大规模地处理问题。计算机提供的可能性让人相信，只要花大量时间进行记录，各种问题的答案几乎会自动从机器中得出。但事实并非如此。充分的研究始于对一个相关问题的单一陈述。然后应该充分关注研究的规划，包括所有的优点和缺点。仅关注疾病发生情况的研究通常枯燥乏味且信息量不大。通常，只有当努力将疾病形式与特定的风险因素、体征和症状或预后因素联系起来时，调查才会变得有趣。本文给出了一些实例。当在这些小动物医疗实践中也进行调查时，与小动物医疗实践相关的研究的相关性会大大增加。最后强调一点，刚开始从事研究的兽医购买一本好的流行病学教科书会比购买一台个人电脑更有益。
