Commentary
Antimicrobial resistance and patient outcomes: the hazards of adjustment
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* Corresponding author: Mitchell J Schwaber mitchells@tasmc.health.gov.il
Division of Epidemiology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
Critical Care 2006, 10:164 doi:10.1186/cc5019
Published: 5 September 2006Abstract
Outcomes studies of infections with resistant bacteria often do not account appropriately for intermediate variables – events in the causal pathway between the exposure and the outcome – when controlling for confounders. We discuss how failure to distinguish between confounders and intermediate variables can bias the analysis, and we address methods of approaching this issue.