Choosing Methods to Minimize Confounding in Observational Studies

Choosing methods to minimize confounding in observational studies: do the ends justify the means?

The comparison of alternative treatments has long been a primary objective of researchers engaged in clinical investigation. However, with the commitment of $1.1 billion in support of clinical research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,1 followed subsequently by the creation of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) as part of the Affordable Care Act,2 “comparative...

Residual confounding in observational studies.

To the Editor:—I read the study by Fellahi JL et al. titled “Perioperative use of dobutamine in cardiac surgery and adverse cardiac outcome” with great interest. This study showed that the use of dobutamine was associated with adverse outcomes in adult cardiac surgery, and the authors concluded that these results suggest that dobutamine should only be administered when the benefit is judged to ...

Confounding in Observational Studies Explained

Practical and ethical constraints mean that many clinical and/or epidemiological questions cannot be answered through the implementation of a randomized controlled trial. Under these circumstances, observational studies are often required to assess relationships between certain exposures and disease outcomes. Unfortunately, observational studies are notoriously vulnerable to the effect of diffe...

Residual Confounding in Observational Studies

To the Editor:—I read the study by Fellahi JL et al. titled “Perioperative use of dobutamine in cardiac surgery and adverse cardiac outcome” with great interest. This study showed that the use of dobutamine was associated with adverse outcomes in adult cardiac surgery, and the authors concluded that these results suggest that dobutamine should only be administered when the benefit is judged to ...

Confounding Equivalence in Observational Studies