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Simple formulae for evaluating the potential impact of confounding bias. (English) Zbl 1239.62132

Summary: Unmeasured confounding is a common problem in observational studies. This article presents simple formulae that can set the bounds of the confounding risk ratio under three standard populations of the exposed, unexposed, and total groups. The bounds are derived by considering the confounding risk ratio as a function of the prevalence of a covariate, and can be constructed using only information about either the exposure-confounder or the disease-confounder relationship. The formulae can be extended to the confounding odds ratio in case-control studies, and the confounding risk difference is discussed. The application of these formulae is demonstrated using an example in which estimation may suffer from bias due to population stratification. The formulae can help to provide a realistic picture of the potential impact of bias due to confounding.

MSC:

62P10 Applications of statistics to biology and medical sciences; meta analysis
92B15 General biostatistics
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