Sources of Bias in Retrospective Cohort Mortality Studies: A Note on Treatment of Subjects Lost to Follow-up

The three important sources of bias in retrospective cohort mortality studies are: (1) the healthy worker confounding bias, (2) the lost to follow-up bias, and (3) bias due to methods of follow-up that result in underascertainment of deaths. This paper presents how the treatment of the lost to follo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational medicine 1987-03, Vol.29 (3), p.256-261
Main Authors: Vena, John E., Sultz, Harry A., Carlo, George L., Fiedler, Roger C., Barnes, Robert E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Epidemiologic Methods
Epidemiology
Follow-Up Studies
General aspects
Humans
Local Government
Male
Medical sciences
New York
Occupational Diseases - mortality
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Retrospective Studies
Time Factors
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Summary:The three important sources of bias in retrospective cohort mortality studies are: (1) the healthy worker confounding bias, (2) the lost to follow-up bias, and (3) bias due to methods of follow-up that result in underascertainment of deaths. This paper presents how the treatment of the lost to follow-up impacts ultimately on the apparent forces of mortality in a cohort. The findings are discussed in the context of the other sources of bias. The treatment of subjects lost to follow-up as lost at the time of loss offers the best estimate of expected mortality and should be the preferred approach.
ISSN:0096-1736
2332-3795