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The ‘well control’ artefact in case/control studies of specific psychiatric disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Sharon Schwartz  and
Bruce G. Link
Sharon Schwartz*
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, USA
Bruce G. Link
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, USA
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Sharon Schwartz, Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Columbia University, 100 Haven Avenue, Tower III 19E, New York, New York 10032, USA.
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Synopsis

An appropriate choice of controls in case/control studies of specific psychiatric disorders is crucial for valid risk-factor assessment. One suggested approach to control-group selection, the use of a well control group, is the focus of this paper. While using well controls has intuitive appeal, this paper shows that such a procedure can lead to ambiguous and biased results.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , August 1989 , pp. 737 - 742
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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