The potential for Simpson's paradox in drug utilization studies.
PURPOSE: Simpson's paradox is a type of severe confounding wherein a confounding variable changes the direction of an association. METHODS: This article demonstrates Simpson's paradox with three cohorts of naproxen users (new users, chronic users, and combined users) who were compared on the age/sex distribution of further naproxen use. Hypothetical new and chronic user populations were constructed with the same proportions for further naproxen use as their original counterparts. RESULTS: The hypothetical combined population showed an age/sex distribution opposite to that of the original combined population. CONCLUSIONS: This example of Simpson's paradox is a significant finding as many drug utilization studies do not distinguish between component populations.[1]References
- The potential for Simpson's paradox in drug utilization studies. Neutel, C.I. Annals of epidemiology. (1997) [Pubmed]
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