Testing for the indirect effect under the null for genome ‐wide mediation analyses

We examined the performance of commonly used mediation testing methods for the indirect effect in genome‐wide mediation studies. When there is no association between the exposure and the mediator and no association between the mediator and the outcome, we show that these common tests are overly conservative. This is a case that will arise frequently in genome‐wide mediation studies. Caution is hence needed when applying the commonly used mediation tests in genome‐wide mediation studies. We evaluated the performance of these methods using simulation studies, and performed an epigenome‐wide mediation association study in the Normative Aging Study, analyzing DNAm as a mediator of the effect of pack‐years on FEV1.
Source: Genetic Epidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
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