Confronting the confounders: the meaning, detection, and treatment of confounders in research.
When one variable is studied to try to explain another, the relationship between them may be biased by a third variable. The bias, known as "confounding," is common and must be minimized in research. This description is deceptively simple, though. Identifying confounding is complex but can be reduced to a stepped procedure. By way of examples, this article describes confounding and how to recognize it.
Rhodes
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St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario.
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Streiner
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D015982:Bias; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000592:standards*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*