American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 135, No. 9: 1019-1028
Copyright © 1992 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
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Selection of Controls in Case-Control Studies
I. Principles
1Biostatistics Branch, National Cancer Institute Be-thesda, MD.
2Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN.
Reprint requests to Dr. Sholom Wacholder, Biostatistics Branch, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Blvd., EPN 403, Rockville, MD 20892.
A synthesis of classical and recent thinking on the issues involved in selecting controls for case-control studies is presented in this and two companion papers (S. Wacholder et al. Am J Epidemiol 1992; 135: 1029–50). In this paper, a theoretical framework for selecting controls in case-control studies is developed. Three principles of comparability are described: 1) study base, that all comparisons be made within the study base; 2) deconfounding, that comparisons of the effects of the levels of exposure on disease risk not be distorted by the effects of other factors; and 3) comparable accuracy, that any errors in measurement of exposure be nondifferential between cases and controls. These principles, if adhered to in a study, can reduce selection, confounding, and information bias, respectively. The principles, however, are constrained by an additional efficiency principle regarding resources and time. Most problems and controversies in control selection reflect trade-offs among these for principles. Am J Epidemiol 1992; 135: 1019–28
(epidemiology); epidemiologic methods; prospective studies; retrospective studies
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