Confounding | Understanding Medical Research

Confounding is the reason so many observational studies report links that are not real. This video covers what a confounder is, why randomization protects a trial from it, and what it means when researchers say they controlled for a variable. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:47 Does drinking lower your GPA? 04:35 What a confounder is 07:09 Controlling for confounders 09:03 Why randomized trials are protected 09:38 Spot the confounder 11:31 Vitamin D and heart health 12:40 Breastfeeding and IQ 14:31 Take-home points Learning objectives: After watching, you'll be able to: - Define a confounder as a variable linked to both the exposure and the outcome - Explain why random assignment removes confounding in a randomized trial - Identify likely confounders in a reported association and check whether the authors adjusted for them 📺 Watch the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewVyTec_MVGxIbNSEeMhEsZ 🎓 Enroll on Coursera for assessments and a certificate: https://www.coursera.org/learn/medical-research 🌐 Explore more learning opportunities on Yale Online: https://online.yale.edu/courses/understanding-medical-research-your-facebook-friend-wrong