Antimicrobial resistance and patient outcomes: the hazards of adjustment.
Outcomes studies of infections with resistant bacteria often do not account appropriately for intermediate variables--events in the causal pathway between the exposure and the outcome--when controlling for confounders. We discuss how failure to distinguish between confounders and intermediate variables can bias the analysis, and we address methods of approaching this issue.
Schwaber
Mitchell J
MJ
Division of Epidemiology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel. mitchells@tasmc.health.gov.il
Carmeli
Yehuda
Y
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016896:Treatment Outcome