Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39496879›Full record

ArticleNature genetics2024

Pervasive biases in proxy genome-wide association studies based on parental history of Alzheimer's disease.

Yuchang Wu, Zhongxuan Sun, Qinwen Zheng, Jiacheng Miao, Stephen Dorn, Shubhabrata Mukherjee, Jason M Fletcher, Qiongshi Lu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature genetics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 3 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

44 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
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  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. APOE*4 risk-modifying genes and drug targets in Alzheimer's disease through cell-type-specific genomic analyses.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Genetic risk in Alzheimer's disease.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2026
    Review
  18. Neuroimaging PheWAS and molecular phenotyping implicate PSMC3 in Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Yuchang Wu *Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6985-3998
Zhongxuan Sun *Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-5682-2078
Qinwen ZhengDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Jiacheng MiaoDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4524-7408
Stephen DornDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-9977-168X
Shubhabrata MukherjeeDepartment of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2522-2884
Jason M FletcherDepartment of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8843-0563
Qiongshi LuDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA. qlu@biostat.wisc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4514-0969

Funding

Technology to Empower Changes in Health (TECH) Network Participant Technologies CenterU24OD023176 · OD · SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THE · PI TOPOL, ERIC JEFFREY · 2016 to 2022
$204.7M
Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program BiobankU24OD023121 · OD · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · PI CEKANOVA, MARIA, CICEK, MINE · 2016 to 2024
$185.5M
Enhancing All of Us Data Resources for Nutrition Precision Health: the All of Us Data and Research CenterU2COD023196 · OD · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI GLAZER, DAVID, HARRIS, PAUL A. · 2016 to 2022
$143.7M
Adaptive Platform for Personalized EngagementU24OD023163 · OD · VIGNET, INC. · PI JAIN, PRADUMAN · 2017 to 2020
$102.6M
University of Arizona-Banner Health All of Us Research Program OT2OD026549 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · PI MORENO, FRANCISCO A, REIMAN, ERIC MICHAEL · 2018 to 2023
$78.9M
California Precision Medicine Research Program ConsortiumOT2OD026552 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ANTON-CULVER, HODA A, OHNO-MACHADO, LUCILA · 2018 to 2023
$73.4M
All of Us PennsylvaniaOT2OD026554 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI REIS, STEVEN E, VISWESWARAN, SHYAM · 2018 to 2023
$72.1M
New York City Consortium for Precision MedicineOT2OD026556 · OD · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI BIER, LOUISE E, GHARAVI, ALI G · 2018 to 2023
$67.3M
SouthEast Enrollment Center (SEEC) OT2OD026551 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI CARRASQUILLO, OLVEEN, COLON, VIVIAN · 2018 to 2023
$62.8M
Southern All of Us NetworkOT2OD026548 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI FOUAD, MONA N., KORF, BRUCE R · 2018 to 2023
$60.5M
Illinois Precision Medicine Consortium OT2OD026557 · OD · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI AHSAN, HABIBUL, ARGOS, MARIA · 2018 to 2023
$60.5M
The New England Precision Medicine Consortium of the All of Us Research ProgramOT2OD026553 · OD · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI CLARK, CHERYL RENEE, KARLSON, ELIZABETH W · 2018 to 2023
$58.8M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG017266NIA NIH HHS R21 AG085162NIA NIH HHS RC2 AG036495NIA NIH HHS RC4 AG039029NIH HHS OT2 OD023205NIH HHS OT2 OD023206NIH HHS OT2 OD025276NIH HHS OT2 OD025277NIH HHS OT2 OD025315NIH HHS OT2 OD025337NIH HHS OT2 OD026548NIH HHS OT2 OD026549NIH HHS OT2 OD026550NIH HHS OT2 OD026551NIH HHS OT2 OD026552NIH HHS OT2 OD026553NIH HHS OT2 OD026554NIH HHS OT2 OD026555NIH HHS OT2 OD026556NIH HHS OT2 OD026557NIH HHS U24 OD023121NIH HHS U24 OD023163NIH HHS U24 OD023176NIH HHS U2C OD023196
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Almost every recent Alzheimer's disease (AD) genome-wide association study (GWAS) has performed meta-analysis to combine studies with clinical diagnosis of AD with studies that use proxy phenotypes based on parental disease history. Here, we report major limitations in current GWAS-by-proxy (GWAX) practices due to uncorrected survival bias and nonrandom participation in parental illness surveys, which cause substantial discrepancies between AD GWAS and GWAX results. We demonstrate that the current AD GWAX provide highly misleading genetic correlations between AD risk and higher education, which subsequently affects a variety of genetic epidemiological applications involving AD and cognition. Our study sheds light on potential issues in the design and analysis of middle-aged biobank cohorts and underscores the need for caution when interpreting genetic association results based on proxy-reported parental disease history.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenome-Wide Association StudyParentsBiasFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhenotypePolymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Identifiers

PMID39496879
PMCPMC11929606

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.