Dealing with the Inevitable Deficiencies of Bias Analysis - and All Analyses

Am J Epidemiol. 2021 Mar 29:kwab069. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwab069. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTLash et al. (Am. J. Epidemiol. xxx) present detailed critiques of 3 bias analyses which they identify as "suboptimal". This identification raises the question of what "optimal" means for bias analysis, because it is practically impossible to do statistically optimal analyses of typical population studies - with or without bias analysis. At best the analysis can only attempt to satisfy practice guidelines and account for available information both within and outside the study. One should not expect a full accounting for all sources of uncertainty; hence interval estimates and distributions for causal effects should never be treated as valid uncertainty assessments - they are instead only example analyses that follow from collections of often questionable assumptions. These observations reinforce those of Lash et al. and point to the need for more development of methods for judging bias-parameter distributions and usage of available information.PMID:33778862 | DOI:10.1093/aje/kwab069
Source: Am J Epidemiol - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Source Type: research