Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 166, Issue 3, Pages 332-339Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwm069
Keywords
bias (epidemiology); case-control studies; cohort studies; confounding factors (epidemiology); epidemiologic methods; models; statistical; propensity score
Categories
Funding
- NCI NIH HHS [R01 CA-095415] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The use of propensity scores to adjust for measured confounding factors has become increasingly popular in cohort studies. However, their use in case-control and case-cohort studies has received little attention. The authors present some theory on the estimation and use of propensity scores in case-control and case-cohort studies and present the results of simulation studies that examine whether large-sample expectations are realized in studies of typical size. The application of propensity scores is less straightforward in case-control and case-cohort studies than in cohort studies. The authors' simulations revealed two potentially important issues. First, when using several potential approaches, there is artifactual effect modification of the odds ratio by level of propensity score. The magnitude of this phenomenon decreases as the sample size increases. Second, several potential approaches produce estimated propensity scores that do not converge to the true value as sample size increases and, thus, can fail to adjust fully for measured confounding factors. However, the magnitude of residual confounding appeared modest in our simulations. Researchers considering using propensity scores in case-control or case-cohort studies should consider the potential for artifactual effect modification and their reduced ability to control for potential confounding factors.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available