A study that follows a group forward in time to see who develops an outcome.
A prospective cohort study identifies a group of participants based on exposure status (e.g., training load, injury history) before the outcome has occurred, then follows them forward in time to observe who develops the outcome of interest. Because exposure is recorded before the outcome, this design reduces recall bias and better supports causal inference than retrospective designs, though it cannot establish causation as definitively as a randomised controlled trial. It typically requires longer follow-up and greater resources than retrospective or cross-sectional studies.
This guide was auto-drafted and is pending editorial review.