Learning Objectives
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1.
Confounding is an important limitation of observational studies.
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2.
Confounding alters the interpretation of study results, obscuring whether the exposure is a cause of the outcome.
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3.
A confounder is classically defined as a factor that is:
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a.
associated with the exposure,
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b.
associated with the outcome, and
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c.
not in the causal pathway of association.
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a.
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4.
Study data are used to judge whether a potential confounder is associated with the exposure and the outcome.
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5.
Biological and clinical knowledge are used to judge whether a potential confounder is in the causal pathway of association.
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6.
Confounding-by-indication occurs when the specific indication for a medication confounds the association between the use of that medication and the study outcome.
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Kestenbaum, B. (2009). Introduction to Confounding. In: Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88433-2_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88433-2_9
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