ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2018
Revisiting the Table 2 fallacy: A motivating example examining preeclampsia and preterm birth.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Life's Essential 8 in Pregnancy and Time to Incident Cardiometabolic Disease Over 7 Years Follow-Up.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Prevalence and correlates of PrEP use and missed PrEP doses due to alcohol among sexually active adults and sexual minority men in San Francisco.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
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- Participants' reactions to the inclusion of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) measures in an established large-scale cohort: The California Teachers Study.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Characterization of Cannabis users and products and the experience of negative mental emotions following Cannabis use.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Prevalence and correlates of sexual intimate partner violence among trans women in the San Francisco Bay Area.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Maternal social deprivation and preterm birth: The PreCARE cohort study.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Pens of commercial feedlot cattle with better health and performance have lower estimated greenhouse gas emissions intensity.Translational animal science · 2025Article
- Risk factors and recurrence of hyperemesis gravidarum: A population-based record linkage cohort study.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Housing conditions and risk of incident COPD: a Danish cohort study, 2000-2018.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Previous High-Intensity Breastfeeding Lowers the Risk of an Abnormal Fasting Glucose in a Subsequent Pregnancy Oral Glucose Tolerance Test.Nutrients · 2023Article
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- The role of targeted temperature management in 30-day hospital readmissions in cardiac arrest survivors: A national population-based study.International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature · 2023Article
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6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA "Table Fallacy," as coined by Westreich and Greenland, reports multiple adjusted effect estimates from a single model. This practice, which remains common in published literature, can be problematic when different types of effect estimates are presented together in a single table. The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively illustrate this potential for misinterpretation with an example estimating the effects of preeclampsia on preterm birth.
methodsWe analysed a retrospective population-based cohort of 2 963 888 singleton births in California between 2007 and 2012. We performed a modified Poisson regression to calculate the total effect of preeclampsia on the risk of PTB, adjusting for previous preterm birth. pregnancy alcohol abuse, maternal education, and maternal socio-demographic factors (Model 1). In subsequent models, we report the total effects of previous preterm birth, alcohol abuse, and education on the risk of PTB, comparing and contrasting the controlled direct effects, total effects, and confounded effect estimates, resulting from Model 1.
resultsThe effect estimate for previous preterm birth (a controlled direct effect in Model 1) increased 10% when estimated as a total effect. The risk ratio for alcohol abuse, biased due to an uncontrolled confounder in Model 1, was reduced by 23% when adjusted for drug abuse. The risk ratio for maternal education, solely a predictor of the outcome, was essentially unchanged.
conclusionsReporting multiple effect estimates from a single model may lead to misinterpretation and lack of reproducibility. This example highlights the need for careful consideration of the types of effects estimated in statistical models.
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