Sensitivity Analysis in Observational Studies

In an observational study, subjects are not randomly assigned to treatment or control, as they would be in a controlled clinical trial. As a consequence, differing outcomes in treated and control groups may not reflect effects of the treatment, but rather some way the groups were not comparable prior to treatment, that is, some hidden bias. A sensitivity analysis appraises how the conclusions of a study might be altered by hidden biases of various magnitudes. Keywords: confounding; hidden bias; nonrandomized experiment; observational study; sensitivity analysis; treatment effects; unobserved bias

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