Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31373921›Full record

ArticleEpidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)2019

Survival Bias in Mendelian Randomization Studies: A Threat to Causal Inference.

Roelof A J Smit, Stella Trompet, Olaf M Dekkers, J Wouter Jukema, Saskia le Cessie

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Artificial intelligence for dementia genetics and omics.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Roelof A J SmitFrom the Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
Stella TrompetFrom the Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
Olaf M DekkersSection of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands.
J Wouter JukemaFrom the Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
Saskia le CessieDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

It has been argued that survival bias may distort results in Mendelian randomization studies in older populations. Through simulations of a simple causal structure we investigate the degree to which instrumental variable (IV)-estimators may become biased in the context of exposures that affect survival. We observed that selecting on survival decreased instrument strength and, for exposures with directionally concordant effects on survival (and outcome), introduced downward bias of the IV-estimator when the exposures reduced the probability of survival till study inclusion. Higher ages at study inclusion generally increased this bias, particularly when the true causal effect was not equal to null. Moreover, the bias in the estimated exposure-outcome relation depended on whether the estimation was conducted in the one- or two-sample setting. Finally, we briefly discuss which statistical approaches might help to alleviate this and other types of selection bias. See video abstract at, http://links.lww.com/EDE/B589.

Indexed as

Selection BiasSurvival RateAgedAged, 80 and overBiasCausalityComputer SimulationHumansMendelian Randomization Analysis

Identifiers

PMID31373921
PMCPMC6784762

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.