Measures of Disease Association • Measuring occurrence of new outcome events can be an aim by itself, but usually we want to look at the relationship between an exposure (risk factor, predictor) and the outcome • The type of measure showing an association between an exposure and an outcome event is linked to the study design
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Measures of Disease Association Measuring occurrence of new outcome events can be an aim by itself, but usually we want to look at the relationship between.
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Measures of Disease Association
• Measuring occurrence of new outcome events can be an aim by itself, but usually we want to look at the relationship between an exposure (risk factor, predictor) and the outcome
• The type of measure showing an association between an exposure and an outcome event is linked to the study design
Main points to be covered
• Measures of association compare measures of disease between levels of a predictor variable
• Prevalence ratio versus risk ratio
• Probability and odds
• The 2 X 2 table
• Properties of the odds ratio
• Absolute risk versus relative risk
• Disease incidence and risk in a cohort study
Cross-Sectional Study Design: A Prevalent Sample
Measures of Association in a Cross-Sectional Study
• Simplest case is to have a dichotomous outcome and dichotomous exposure variable
• Everyone in the sample is classified as diseased or not and having the exposure or not, making a 2 x 2 table
• The proportions with disease are compared among those with and without the exposure
• NB: Exposure=risk factor=predictor
2 x 2 table for association of disease and exposureDisease
Yes NoE
xpos
ure
Yes
No
a b
c d
a + b
c + d
a + c b + d N = a+b+c+d
Note: data may not always come to you arranged as above.STATA puts exposure across the top, disease on the side.
Prevalence ratio of disease in exposed and unexposedDisease
Yes No
Exp
osur
e
Yes
No
a b
c d
a + b
c + d
c
a
PR =
Prevalence Ratio
• Text refers to Point Prevalence Rate Ratio in setting of cross-sectional studies
• We like to keep the concepts of rate and prevalence separate, and so prefer to use prevalence ratio
Prevalence ratio of disease in exposed and unexposedDisease
Yes No
Exp
osur
e
Yes
No
a b
c d
a + b
c + d
c
a
PR =
So a/a+b and c/c+d = probabilities of diseaseand PR is ratio of two probabilities
Probability and Odds
• Odds another way to express probability of an event
• Odds = # events # non-events
• Probability = # events # events + # non-events
= # events # subjects
Probability and Odds
• Probability = # events
# subjects
• Odds = # events
# subjects = probability
# non-events (1 – probability)
# subjects
• Odds = p / (1 - p)
[ratio of two probabilities]
Probability and Odds
• If event occurs 1 of 5 times, probability = 0.2.
• Out of the 5 times, 1 time will be the event and 4 times will be the non-event, odds = 0.25
• To calculate probability given the odds:
probability = odds / 1+ odds
Odds versus Probability• Less intuitive than probability (probably wouldn’t
say “my odds of dying are 1/4”)
• No less legitimate mathematically, just not so easily understood
• Used in epidemiology because the measure of association available in case-control design is the odds ratio
• Also important because the log odds of the outcome is given by the coefficient of a predictor in a logistic regression
Odds ratio• As odds are just an alternative way of
expressing the probability of an outcome, odds ratio (OR), is an alternative to the ratio of two probabilities (prevalence or risk ratios)
• Odds ratio = ratio of two odds
Probability and odds in a 2 x 2 table
DiseaseYes No
Exp
osur
e
Yes
No
2 3
1 4 5
5
103 7
What is p of diseasein exposed?
What are odds ofdisease in exposed?
And the same forthe un-exposed?
Probability and odds ratios in a 2 x 2 table
DiseaseYes No
Exp
osur
e
Yes
No
2 3
1 4 5
5
103 7
PR = 2/5 1/5= 2
0R = 2/3 1/4= 2.67
Odds ratio of disease in exposed and unexposed
DiseaseYes No
Exp
osur
e
Yes
No
a b
c d
a + b
c + d
c
a
OR =
aa + b
1 -
c
c + d1 -
Formula of p / 1-p in exposed / p / 1-p in unexposed
Odds ratio of disease in exposed and unexposed
a + b
c + dc
a
OR =
aa + b
1 -
cc + d
1 -
=
aa + b ba + b cc + d dc + d
a b c d
= =adbc
Important Property of Odds Ratio #1
• The odds ratio of disease in the exposed and unexposed equals the odds ratio of exposure in the diseased and the not diseased– Important in case-control design
Odds ratio of exposure in diseased and not diseased
DiseaseYes No
Exp
osur
e
Yes
No
a b
c d
a + c
b + d
b
a
OR =
aa + c
1 -
b
b + d1 -
OR for disease = OR for exposure
a + c
b + db
a
ORexp =
aa + c
1 -
bb + d
1 -
=
aa + c ca + c bb + d db + d
a c b d
= =adbc
Important characteristic of odds ratio
Measures of Association Using Disease Incidence
• With cross-sectional data we can calculate a ratio of the probability or of the odds of prevalent disease in two groups, but we cannot measure incidence
• A cohort study allows us to calculate the incidence of disease in two groups
Measuring Association in a CohortFollowing two groups by exposure status within a cohort:Equivalent to following two cohorts defined by exposure
Analysis of Disease Incidence in a Cohort
• Measure occurrence of new disease separately in a sub-cohort of exposed and a sub-cohort of unexposed individuals
• Compare incidence in each sub-cohort
• How compare incidence in the sub-cohorts?
Relative Risk vs. Relative Rate• Risk is based on proportion of persons with
disease = cumulative incidence
• Risk ratio = ratio of 2 cumulative incidence estimates = relative risk
• Rate is based on events per person-time = incidence rate
• Rate ratio = ratio of 2 incidence rates = relative rate
• We prefer risk ratio, rate ratio, odds ratio
A Note on RR or “Relative Risk”
• Relative risk or RR is very common in the literature, but may represent a risk ratio, a rate ratio, a prevalence ratio, or even an odds ratio
• We will try to be explicit about the measure and distinguish the different types of ratios
• There can be substantial difference in the association of a risk factor with prevalent versus incident disease
Difference vs. Ratio Measures
• Two basic ways to compare measures:– difference: subtract one from the other– ratio: form a ratio of one over the other
• Can take the difference of either an incidence or a prevalence measure but rare with prevalence
• Example using incidence: cumulative incidence 26% in exposed and 15% in unexposed,– risk difference = 26% - 15% = 11% – risk ratio = 0.26 / 0.15 = 1.7
Summary of Measures of Association
Ratio Difference
Cross-sectional prevalence ratio prevalence difference
odds ratio odds difference
Cohort risk ratio risk difference
rate ratio rate difference
odds ratio odds difference
Why use difference vs. ratio?
• Risk difference gives an absolute measure of the association between exposure and disease occurrence– public health implication is clearer with absolute
measure: how much disease might eliminating the exposure prevent?
• Risk ratio gives a relative measure– relative measure gives better sense of strength of an
association between exposure and disease for inferences about causes of disease
Relative Measures and Strength of Association with a Risk Factor
• In practice many risk factors have a relative measure (prevalence, risk, rate, or odds ratio) in the range of 2 to 5
• Some very strong risk factors may have a relative measure in the range of 10 or more – Asbestos and lung cancer
• Relative measures < 2.0 may still be valid but are more likely to be the result of bias– Second-hand smoke relative risk < 1.5
Example of Absolute vs. Relative Measure of Risk
TB recurrence
No TB recurrence
Total
Treated
> 6 mos 14 986 1000
Treated
< 3 mos 40 960 1000
Risk ratio = 0.04/0.014 = 2.9
Risk difference = 0.04 – 0.014 = 2.6%
If incidence is very low, relative measurecan be large but difference measure small
Reciprocal of Absolute Difference ( 1/difference)
• Number needed to treat to prevent one case of disease
• Number needed to treat to harm one person• Number needed to protect from exposure to
prevent one case of disease• TB rifampin example: 1/0.026 = 38.5,
means that you have to treat 38.5 persons for 6 mos vs. 3 mos. to prevent one case of TB recurrence
Table 2. Survival and Functional Outcomes from the Two Study Phases
Study Phase
Return of Spontaneous Circulation
Risk
Difference
(95% CI) p-value
Rapid Defibrillation
(N=1391) 12.9%
-- --
Advanced
Life Support
(N=4247) 18.0% 5.1% (3.0-7.2) <0.001
Stiel et al., NEJM, 2004
Example of study reporting risk difference
Risk difference = 0.051; number needed to treat = 1/0.051 = 20
Risk Ratio Diarrheal Disease
Yes No Total
Ate potato salad 54 16 70
Did not eat potato salad
2 26 28
Total 56 42 98
Probability of disease, ate salad = 54/70 = 0.77
Probability of disease, no salad = 2/28 = 0.07
Risk ratio = 0.77/0.07 = 11 Illustrates risk ratio in cohort with complete follow-up
Risk Ratio in a Cohort with Censoring
Choose a time point for comparing two cumulative incidences:At 6 years, % dead in low CD4 group = 0.70 and in high CD4group = 0.26. Risk ratio at 6 years = 0.70/0.26 = 2.69
Comparing two K-M Curves
Risk ratio would be different for different follow-up Times. Entire curves are compared using log rank test(or other similar tests).
OR compared to Risk Ratio
0 1 ∞Stronger effect
OR Risk Ratio
Stronger effect
Risk Ratio OR
If Risk Ratio = 1.0, OR = 1.0;otherwise OR farther from 1.0
Risk ratio and Odds ratio
If Risk Ratio > 1, then OR farther from 1 than Risk Ratio:
RR = 0.4 = 2 0.2
OR = 0.4
0.6 = 0.67 = 2.7 0.2 0.25 0.8
Risk ratio and Odds ratio
If Risk Ratio < 1, then OR farther from 1 than RR:
• OR approximates Risk Ratio only if disease incidence is low in both the exposed and the unexposed group
Risk ratio and Odds ratio
If risk of disease is low in both exposed and unexposed, RR and OR approximately equal.
Text example: incidence of MI risk in high bp group is 0.018 and in low bp group is 0.003:
Risk Ratio = 0.018/0.003 = 6.0
OR = 0.01833/0.00301 = 6.09
Risk ratio and Odds ratioIf risk of disease is high in either or both exposed and unexposed, Risk Ratio and OR differ
Example, if risk in exposed is 0.6and 0.1 in unexposed: RR = 0.6/0.1 = 6.0
OR = 0.6/0.4 / 0.1/0.9 = 13.5
OR approximates Risk Ratio only if incidence is low in both exposed and unexposed group
“Bias” in OR as estimate of RR
• Text refers to “bias” in OR as estimate of RR (OR = RR x (1-incid.unexp)/(1-incid.exp))– not “bias” in usual sense because both OR and
RR are mathematically valid and use the same numbers
• Simply that OR cannot be thought of as a surrogate for the RR unless incidence is low
Important property of odds ratio #3
• Unlike Risk Ratio, OR is symmetrical:
OR of event = 1 / OR of non-event
Symmetry of odds ratio versus non-symmetry of risk ratio
OR of non-event is 1/OR of eventRR of non-event = 1/RR of eventExample: If cum. inc. in exp. = 0.25 andcum. inc. in unexp. = 0.07, thenRR (event) = 0.25 / 0.07 = 3.6 RR (non-event) = 0.75 / 0.93 = 0.8 Not reciprocal: 1/3.6 = 0.28 = 0.8