Hidden yet quantifiable: A lower bound for confounding strength using randomized trials

Understand

In the era of fast-paced precision medicine, observational studies play a major role in properly evaluating new treatments in clinical practice.

• Yet, unobserved confounding can significantly compromise causal conclusions drawn from non-randomized data.
• We propose a novel strategy that leverages randomized trials to quantify unobserved confounding.
• First, we design a statistical test to detect unobserved confounding with strength above a given threshold.