Other Outcomes and Causation Flashcards
1
Q
describe temporality
A
- exposure occurred before the outcome
- the exposure could be a cause of the outcome
2
Q
describe consistency
A
- an association found in several different studies with different study designs carried out under different circumstances with different populations
- is more likely to be causal
- again, this is because a consistent association is less likely to be due to undetected confounding or bias
3
Q
describe a biological gradient
A
- dose response relationship
- the number of cigarettes smoked/day leads to increased risk of lung cancer
4
Q
describe biological plausibility
A
- refers to the proposal of a causal association—a relationship between a putative cause and an outcome—that is consistent with existing biological and medical knowledge.
5
Q
describe reversibility
A
- experimental evidence to show that the removal of the exposure leads to a reduction in the risk of the outcome
- provides very strong evidence in favor of a causal relationship
6
Q
give an example of experiment/reversibility
A
7
Q
describe coherence
A
- the cause/effect interpretation of an association be supported by what is known about the natural history and biology of the state of health or disease. This information can come from a variety of sources, including community and clinical trials, in vitro laboratory experiments and animal models
8
Q
describe multi-causality
A
- the multi-causal paradigm is the dominant theory of causation in contemporary epidemiology
- a cause of a specific disease: any factor that plays an essential role in producing an occurrence of the disease