Invited Commentary: Causal Diagrams and Measurement Bias

被引:133
作者
Hernan, Miguel A. [1 ,2 ]
Cole, Stephen R. [3 ]
机构
[1] Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Boston, MA 02115 USA
[2] MIT, Harvard Mit Div Hlth Sci & Technol, Boston, MA USA
[3] Univ N Carolina, Gillings Sch Global Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Chapel Hill, NC USA
关键词
bias (epidemiology); body mass index; causality; confounding factors (epidemiology); BODY-MASS INDEX; NONDIFFERENTIAL MISCLASSIFICATION; STRUCTURAL APPROACH; KNOWLEDGE;
D O I
10.1093/aje/kwp293
中图分类号
R1 [预防医学、卫生学];
学科分类号
1004 ; 120402 ;
摘要
Causal inferences about the effect of an exposure on an outcome may be biased by errors in the measurement of either the exposure or the outcome. Measurement errors of exposure and outcome can be classified into 4 types: independent nondifferential, dependent nondifferential, independent differential, and dependent differential. Here the authors describe how causal diagrams can be used to represent these 4 types of measurement bias and discuss some problems that arise when using measured exposure variables (e.g., body mass index) to make inferences about the causal effects of unmeasured constructs (e.g., "adiposity"). The authors conclude that causal diagrams need to be used to represent biases arising not only from confounding and selection but also from measurement.
引用
收藏
页码:959 / 962
页数:4
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