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 Vol. 20 No. 2, August 2008
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Right arrow Weighing the Evidence

AAP Grand Rounds 20:18-19 (2008)
© 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics

OTOLARYNGOLOGY

Weighing the Evidence: Bias in Pediatric Studies

Daniel R. Neuspiel, MD, MPH, FAAP
The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Bias is defined as any process that leads to the systematic deviation of study results or inferences from the truth.1 The term bias does not mean that the investigator’s conscious or unconscious views led to a particular subjective interpretation, as in conventional usage of the word. Bias in evidence-based medicine refers to deviations from the truth that generally result from limitations in study design or reporting rather than from personal prejudices. Some forms of bias are inevitable in research, but need to be recognized and accounted for by investigators and readers.

Many distinct forms of bias have been recognized. In 1979, Sackett identified 57 types.2 In 2005, Choi and Pak noted 48 varieties of bias solely in studies using questionnaires.3 Dorak described 108 bias categories in 2008.4 I will describe a few of the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Prevalence-incidence (Neyman) bias:
Selection and non-respondent bias:
Admission rate (Berkson) bias:
Recall bias:
Reporting bias:
Publication bias:
Confounding bias: