A casecontrol study was conducted assessing the association

A case-control study was conducted assessing the association between diabetes and physical inactivity. An odds ratio of 3 was found indicating that those who had diabetes were 3 times as likely to report being physically inactive compared to controls. You conduct a stratified analysis, stratifying the data by area of residence (urban versus rural). You find that the odds ratios are 1.97 in those who live in urban areas and 2.0 in those who live in rural areas. This is an example of:

Confounding by area of residence

Attributable risk due to physical inactivity

Interaction between area of residence and physical inactivity

Dose-response relationship

Bias

Confounding by gender

Solution

The correct option is (A)

Confounding by area of residence

Confounding is a distortion (inaccuracy) in the estimated measure of association that occurs when the primary exposure of interest is mixed up with some other factor that is associated with the outcome