How Do Confounding Variables Influence Epidemiological Findings?
Confounding variables can distort the true relationship between the exposure and outcome. For example, in a study investigating the link between drinking coffee and heart disease, smoking might be a confounder if it is associated with both coffee consumption and heart disease. If not properly controlled, confounders can lead to spurious associations. Techniques such as stratification and multivariable analysis can be used to account for confounders in the analysis.
