Question

Question 3. A hospital-based case-control study of alcohol consumption in relation to a particular type of cancer was conducted. The investigators selected patients admitted for conditions that were not related to alcohol consumption as the control group. 200 controls were individually matched to 200 cases by age and sex. Alcohol consumption was assessed by an in-person interview conducted by a trained interviewer in the hospital (suggested length, a brief paragraph each for 1) to 3) below). 1) Using epidemiological terminology, describe three potential biases which you may be concerned about in this example, and why you think such biases might have arisen. 2) For each of the three sources of bias, briefly describe steps that could be taken to control or remove the potential biases in the design of your study and analysis of study data. 3) Why was it important that the control group included patients with conditions that were not related to alcohol consumption? 4) The matched odds ratio for the association between alcohol consumption and cancer was 2.0. Given that, create a contingency table that would result in this odds ratio based upon the matched data (note: there are many possible correct responses to this question).

Answer 1