Simpson's paradox: an example from hospital epidemiology.
Simpson's paradox was first recognized at the beginning of the 20th century, but few examples with real data have been presented. In this paper we present an example of this phenomenon from a multicenter study on nosocomial infections, and we try to explain intuitively this type of extreme confounding.
Reintjes
R
R
Department for Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
de Boer
A
A
van Pelt
W
W
Mintjes-de Groot
J
J
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents