What is a case report?

• A. Randomized controlled trial
• B. Systematic review
• C. Cohort study
• D. Type of descriptive research in which only one individual is studied in depth

Answer: (D)

A case report is a descriptive account of a single patient’s medical situation, detailing presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and outcome in depth. It involves no control group or experimental manipulation and focuses on one case to provide rich, detailed information. This makes it useful for highlighting rare or novel conditions, unusual presentations, or responses to therapy, and it can spark ideas for further study, but it cannot establish cause-and-effect or be generalized to broader populations. In contrast, a randomized controlled trial involves randomly assigning people to different interventions with a control group; a systematic review synthesizes results from many studies; and a cohort study follows a group over time to observe how exposures relate to outcomes.