Confounding: Linking Evidence to Practice.

Kamper, Steven J · J Orthop Sports Phys Ther · 2021

editorial · Level V

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Abstract

A confounder is a variable that influences the relationship between an exposure and an outcome. This means that a difference in outcome is not only explained by the factor that we think explains it (the exposure), but also (completely or partly) by another factor (the confounder). Confounding underpins the hackneyed expression, "Correlation does not imply causation." Your assessment of a study's risk of confounding should inform how much confidence you have in the results. <i>J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2021;51(8):412-413. doi:10.2519/jospt.2021.0702</i>.

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