An RSV outbreak in the pediatric unit leads the IP to start a descriptive study of patient and employee population. Which statement is true about descriptive studies?

• A. They prove causality.
• B. They include cohort and case-control studies.
• C. They characterize populations by time, person, and place.
• D. They include only prevalence.

Answer: (C)

Descriptive studies focus on describing who is affected, where, and when. In an RSV outbreak, a descriptive approach helps the infection preventionist map patterns across time (when cases occur), place (which units or settings are involved), and person (age, role such as patient or staff). This kind of study characterizes the population and generates hypotheses about possible risk factors and transmission routes, rather than testing causes. Descriptive work does not prove causality—that’s the realm of analytic designs like cohort or case-control studies. It isn’t limited to prevalence either; descriptive epidemiology can describe prevalence, incidence, and other distributional aspects. So the statement that describes populations by time, person, and place best captures what descriptive studies do.