Proxy Variables and the Generalizability of Study Results

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology Vol. 192; no. 3; pp. 448 - 454
• Main Authors: Nilsson, Anton, Björk, Jonas, Bonander, Carl
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 24.02.2023; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Causality; Clinical outcomes; Data analysis; directed acyclic graphs; external validity; Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa och socialmedicin; generalizability; Health Sciences; Human subjects; Humans; Hälsovetenskap; Medical and Health Sciences; Medical research; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Patient Selection; Proxy; proxy variables; Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine; Risk and Environmental Studies; Risk- och miljöstudier; Standardization; Variables; generalizability; directed acyclic graphs; proxy variables; external validity

Abstract When individuals self-select (or are selected) into a study based on factors that influence the outcome, conclusions may not generalize to the full population. To compensate for this, results may be adjusted, for example, by standardization on the set of common causes of participation and o...