Confounder: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
A factor that distorts the apparent effect of an intervention on the outcome of interest, or that distorts the apparent association between the exposure and the outcome. | A factor that distorts the apparent effect of an intervention on the outcome of interest, or that distorts the apparent association between the exposure and the outcome. | ||
| Line 13: | Line 10: | ||
== Reference == | == Reference == | ||
''Original references:'' | |||
''[http://www.cochrane-handbook.org. ²<small>Higgins JPT, Green S (ed). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 updated March 2011. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011</small>]<small>. ³Porta M (ed). Dictionary of Epidemiology. Fifth edition. Oxford University Press: International Epidemiological Association, 2008.</small>'' | ''[http://www.cochrane-handbook.org. ²<small>Higgins JPT, Green S (ed). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 updated March 2011. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011</small>]<small>. ³Porta M (ed). Dictionary of Epidemiology. Fifth edition. Oxford University Press: International Epidemiological Association, 2008.</small>'' | ||
http://htaglossary.net/confounder | http://htaglossary.net/confounder | ||
Latest revision as of 12:29, 9 November 2023
A factor that distorts the apparent effect of an intervention on the outcome of interest, or that distorts the apparent association between the exposure and the outcome.
Example: If people in the experimental group of a controlled trial are younger than those in the control group, it will be difficult to decide whether a lower risk of death in one group is due to the intervention or to the difference in ages. Age is then said to be a confounder.
Note 1: The identification of confounders requires expert or substantive knowledge about the causal network of which the intervention (or exposure) and the outcome are part (e.g. pathophysiological and clinical knowledge). Attempts to select confounders solely on the basis of observed statistical associations may lead to bias.
Note 2: Synonyms include confounding variable and confounding factor.
Note 3: Related terms include confounding bias.
Reference
Original references:
²Higgins JPT, Green S (ed). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 updated March 2011. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. ³Porta M (ed). Dictionary of Epidemiology. Fifth edition. Oxford University Press: International Epidemiological Association, 2008.