ArticleObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)2012
Misuse of odds ratios in obesity literature: an empirical analysis of published studies.
Article in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of health information technology on cancer care across the continuum: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2016Pooled it
- Associations between driving performance and engaging in secondary tasks: a systematic review.American journal of public health · 2014Pooled it
- Bayesian probabilistic statements for communicating clinical trial results.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Assessing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) threat 5 years following laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy (LVSG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB): which measure of association is appropriate, odds ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR)?Translational gastroenterology and hepatology · 2026Article
- Health Ratings and Unmet Transportation Needs in Indiana's Aged and Disabled Home and Community-Based Services Waiver Program.Journal of aging & social policy · 2025Article
- Article
- Requiem for odds ratios.Health services research · 2024Article
- Comparisons of various estimates of theStatistical methods in medical research · 2024Article
- Article
- The contribution of employment and working conditions to occupational inequalities in non-communicable diseases in Europe.European journal of public health · 2021Article
- Effect size reporting among prominent health journals: a case study of odds ratios.BMJ evidence-based medicine · 2020Article
- Review
- Pediatric dental care use and parent- or caregiver-rated oral health among Alabama children enrolled in Medicaid.Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) · 2020Article
- Patient-reported GP health assessments rather than individual cardiovascular risk burden are associated with the engagement in lifestyle changes: population-based survey in South Australia.BMC family practice · 2019Article
- Privacy-protecting estimation of adjusted risk ratios using modified Poisson regression in multi-center studies.BMC medical research methodology · 2019Article
- Educational inequalities in Global Activity Limitation Indicator disability in 28 European Countries: Does the choice of survey matter?International journal of public health · 2019Article
- The impact of rising food prices on obesity in women: a longitudinal analysis of 31 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2014.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2019Article
- Altitude and its inverse association with abdominal obesity in an Andean country: a cross-sectional study.F1000Research · 2019Article
- Log Odds and the Interpretation of Logit Models.Health services research · 2018Article
- A Most Odd Ratio:: Interpreting and Describing Odds Ratios.American journal of preventive medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Odds ratios (ORs) are widely used in scientific research to demonstrate the associations between outcome variables and covariates (risk factors) of interest, and are often described in language suitable for risks or probabilities, but odds and probabilities are related, not equivalent. In situations where the outcome is not rare (e.g., obesity), ORs no longer approximate the relative risk ratio (RR) and may be misinterpreted. Our study examines the extent of misinterpretation of ORs in Obesity and International Journal of Obesity. We reviewed all 2010 issues of these journals to identify all articles that presented ORs. Included articles were then primarily reviewed for correct presentation and interpretation of ORs; and secondarily reviewed for article characteristics that may have been associated with how ORs are presented and interpreted. Of the 855 articles examined, 62 (7.3%) presented ORs. ORs were presented incorrectly in 23.2% of these articles. Clinical articles were more likely to present ORs correctly than social science or basic science articles. Studies with outcome variables that had higher relative prevalence were less likely to present ORs correctly. Overall, almost one-quarter of the studies presenting ORs in two leading journals on obesity misinterpreted them. Furthermore, even when researchers present ORs correctly, the lay media may misinterpret them as relative RRs. Therefore, we suggest that when the magnitude of associations is of interest, researchers should carefully and accurately present interpretable measures of association--including RRs and risk differences--to minimize confusion and misrepresentation of research results.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.