Correcting for the bias caused by exposure measurement error in epidemiological studies

MT Fahey; AB Forbes; AM Hodge

Journal article

Correcting for the bias caused by exposure measurement error in epidemiological studies

MT Fahey, AB Forbes, AM Hodge

Respirology | WILEY-BLACKWELL | Published : 2014

DOI: 10.1111/resp.12356

Abstract

An important goal of many epidemiological studies is to estimate the magnitude of association between an exposure and an outcome. Exposure measurement error causes bias in such estimates of association and can be substantial. In this article, we describe the problem of exposure measurement error and its effects.We show how a simple hand calculation,in conjunction with validation study data and a calibration equation, can be used to correct estimates for the bias caused by exposure measurement error. Correcting estimates of association for measurement error helps researchers appropriately assess effect size.

University of Melbourne Researchers

Michael Fahey Author

Related Projects (1)

THE VICTORIAN CENTRE FOR APPLIED BIOSTATISTICS (VCAB): BUILDING CORE METHODOLOGICAL CAPACITY FOR POPULATION HEALTH

Biostatistics is the scientific discipline that focusses on the methods used to design and analyse research studies on human health. Doctors..

Grants

Awarded by NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence grant

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank Professors Rory Wolfe and Michael Abramson for providing access to the asthma study data used in our illustration and for helpful comments on the wording and structure in parts of the article. Michael Fahey was supported under an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence grant, ID#1035261, awarded to the Victorian Centre for Biostatistics (ViCBiostat).