Potential for gene-gene confounding bias in case-parental control studies
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Published on: August 15, 2019
1Graduate Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, Republic of China. wenchung@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw
Purpose:
To show the potential for gene-gene confounding bias in case-parental control studies.
Methods:
The authors quantify the magnitude of gene-gene confounding bias using simple mathematical equations. They also demonstrate the potential problems of such a bias with hypothetical (but realistic) examples.
Results:
The degree of bias resulting from gene-gene confounding was found to be quite substantial under certain conditions (two genes are very closely linked and/or the study was performed in a recently admixed population).
Conclusion:
In this post-genomic era more and more encounters of the gene-gene confounding will be expected, if the one-gene-at-a-time approach continues to be adopted.
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