Principles of confounder selection

909Citations
Citations of this article
985Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Selecting an appropriate set of confounders for which to control is critical for reliable causal inference. Recent theoretical and methodological developments have helped clarify a number of principles of confounder selection. When complete knowledge of a causal diagram relating all covariates to each other is available, graphical rules can be used to make decisions about covariate control. Unfortunately, such complete knowledge is often unavailable. This paper puts forward a practical approach to confounder selection decisions when the somewhat less stringent assumption is made that knowledge is available for each covariate whether it is a cause of the exposure, and whether it is a cause of the outcome. Based on recent theoretically justified developments in the causal inference literature, the following proposal is made for covariate control decisions: control for each covariate that is a cause of the exposure, or of the outcome, or of both; exclude from this set any variable known to be an instrumental variable; and include as a covariate any proxy for an unmeasured variable that is a common cause of both the exposure and the outcome. Various principles of confounder selection are then further related to statistical covariate selection methods.

References Powered by Scopus

The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects

21064Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Identification of Causal Effects Using Instrumental Variables

3724Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Sensitivity analysis in observational research: Introducing the E-Value

3452Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Use of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to identify confounders in applied health research: review and recommendations

505Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Aspirin Use Is Associated With Decreased Mechanical Ventilation, Intensive Care Unit Admission, and In-Hospital Mortality in Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

245Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Reporting guidelines for human microbiome research: the STORMS checklist

221Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

VanderWeele, T. J. (2019). Principles of confounder selection. European Journal of Epidemiology, 34(3), 211–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00494-6

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 391

61%

Researcher 184

29%

Professor / Associate Prof. 42

7%

Lecturer / Post doc 23

4%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Medicine and Dentistry 240

63%

Social Sciences 53

14%

Nursing and Health Professions 51

13%

Psychology 39

10%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Mentions
News Mentions: 1
Social Media
Shares, Likes & Comments: 57

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free