Question
It is 1995, and you are working for the CDC. It is known that health-care workers (HCWs) are potentially at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection through occupational exposures to blood. Although prospective studies indicate that the estimated risk for HIV infection/seroconversion after percutaneous exposure (i.e. a puncture wound from needles or other sharps) to HIV-infected blood is approximately 0.3%, factors that influence this risk have not been determined. All occupationally acquired HIV infections are reported to a national surveillance system operated by the CDC. Assume that many health care institutions maintain worker surveillance systems with additional information about all health care workers that they employ.
Briefly, design a case-control study to assess factors related to HIV seroconversion among HCWs after occupational percutaneous exposure to HIV-infected blood. Make sure to state the specific type of design, define exposure/non-exposure, define case/control status, and explain any sampling techniques that you would use and why.
Source: 250B Problem Set
