lecture 29 - association

Question 1

what is an association

Answer 1

is there an exposure associated with the outcome

• does the exposure increase or decrease the outcome

Question 2

what is the full pie in the casual pie model mean

Answer 2

together these exposures are sufficient to cause the outcome

= so we call the whole pie a sufficient cause of the outcome

Question 3

what are each of the exposures in the causal pie model mean

Answer 3

each of the exposures is a component of the sufficient cause

= so we call each exposure a component cause

Question 4

what should you aim to eliminate in preventing a disease (casual pie model)

Answer 4

a component which is necessary to the disease to occur = i.e appears in every pie (every sufficient case)

Question 5

what are the causation guidelines

Answer 5

BEST CDS

Biological plausibility
experimental evidence
specificity
temporal sequence
consistency
dose response relationship
strength of association

Question 6

what is biological plausibility

Answer 6

is there a plausible biological mechanism for the association

Question 7

what is the experimental evidence

Answer 7

is there evidence from human RCTs or animal experiments

Question 8

what is specificity in the casual guidelines

Answer 8

is the exposure specifically associated with a particular outcome but not the others

Question 9

what is temporal sequencing

Answer 9

knowing if the exposure came before the outcome

Question 10

what is consistency in the casual guidelines

Answer 10

are the findings consistent with findings from other studies

Question 11

what is the dose relationship

Answer 11

does the risk of the outcome change with increasing or decreasing amounts of the exposure