What are other names for cohort studies?

• A. Cross-sectional or prevalence studies
• B. Case-control studies
• C. Longitudinal or prospective studies
• D. Ecological studies

Answer: (C)

Cohort studies follow a defined group over time to observe how exposure relates to the development of outcomes. Because the same individuals are tracked forward in time, this design is described as longitudinal. When the study is planned to collect data going forward from the start, it’s called prospective. These terms capture the same idea of observing outcomes as time progresses, which is why they are the best fit as alternative names for cohort studies. Other study designs—cross-sectional (one-time snapshot), case-control (starting with outcomes and looking back at exposures), and ecological (population-level data)—don’t share that forward-following, time-ordered structure.