title: Interaction fallacy.
abstract: We define interaction fallacy as the situation in which heterogeneity of odds ratios suggests an interaction that does actually not exist among the corresponding risk ratios. We provide a hypothetical example of interaction fallacy between the presence of the germ-line BRCA1 mutation, age at first live birth, and breast cancer risk based on data from the literature. More generally, we present a set of hypothetical conditions under which interaction fallacy may occur.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Division, University Hospital, Genève, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morabia
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ten Have
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Landis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015982:Bias; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D015987:Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D019398:Genes, BRCA1; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012306:Risk