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Glite Dictionary
📊 A confusing factor 🤔 A source of confusion
confounder

confounder

2 8.6
A factor that hides the real link between two things in a study
  • noun
  • /kənˈfaʊndər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : confusor
  • All these potential confounders were included as continuous variables in the models.
  • potential confounders
  • adjustment for confounders
  • control for confounders

You can never remove all the confounders.

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Examples

  • Overall, age was the predominant confounder in the relationships among the examined factors.

    Academic text (2012)

  • However, other potential confounders might exist that were not accounted for in our analyses.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Finally, it is impossible to rule out the presence of other confounders that may account for the changes noted.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Adjustment of various confounders might be one of the reasons for the difference.

    Academic text (2013)

  • We created association models controlling for the following potential confounders: age, PTA, sex, and level of education.

    Academic text (2012)

  • We studied the role of variables as potential confounders/modifiers, but only age was statistically significant.

    Academic text (2015)

  • We also had data on three sociodemographic confounders: education, occupational class, and marital status.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Socioeconomic status (SES) is also an important confounder in social science research with ethnic minority samples.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Although the inequality attenuated after adjusting for age and other confounders, it remained statistically significant in 26 countries.

    Academic text (2013)

  • In a scientific study, age is often a crucial confounder that can skew the results if not properly controlled.

Synonyms

covariate
vsconfounder
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A variable like age or gender included to control its effect in a study

tends to confuse associations between variables instead of merely being controlled
covariable
vsconfounder
  • Specialized
9.1

A measured factor that can affect study results and researchers often control it

can distort the relationship between variables rather than only affecting the outcome

Antonyms

clarifier
4.6

A person or thing that makes an idea easier to understand

How Direct

root cause
  • Specialized
35 3.6
etiology
  • Specialized
3 8.8
causal factor
  • Specialized
1 4.5
health risk
27 3.3
confounder
  • Specialized
2 8.6

Surface Forms

confounder singular
confounders plural

Morphology

confounder = confound (transparent) = confound + er

The noun is a regular agent/instrument noun formed from the verb 'confound' with '-er'; the statistical sense ('a variable that confounds') is a direct extension of 'one that confounds'.

Etymology

The word confounder names a variable that can hide or change the real link between two things in a study. It comes from the verb confound (the same root as confuse) and parts con- 'together' and fundere 'to pour', so a confounder 'pours together' effects and makes it hard to see the true result.