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Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality

A recent analysis of Swedish snus use and mortality combined eight Swedish datasets and found that exclusive Swedish male snus users have statistically significant increased mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases and other causes. These findings, from the Swedish Collaboration on Health...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rodu, Brad, Plurphanswat, Nantaporn
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: F1000 Research Limited 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8917321/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35316937
http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.52127.1
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author Rodu, Brad
Plurphanswat, Nantaporn
author_facet Rodu, Brad
Plurphanswat, Nantaporn
author_sort Rodu, Brad
collection PubMed
description A recent analysis of Swedish snus use and mortality combined eight Swedish datasets and found that exclusive Swedish male snus users have statistically significant increased mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases and other causes. These findings, from the Swedish Collaboration on Health Effects of Snus Use, are in sharp contrast with previous pooled results from the same group. The discrepant results may be indicative of unresolved statistical problems that haven’t been addressed by the collaboration authors in any of their studies. The most important problem is unresolved heterogeneity among the eight cohorts, which we describe in detail, and we show how the use of the random effects method by the authors was not sufficient. We explain why the tables in the article are uninformative, and we demonstrate why the exclusion of smokers in the analysis was not validated and eliminated important information. Finally, we strongly recommend some straightforward and easily implemented corrective measures.
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spelling pubmed-89173212022-03-21 Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality Rodu, Brad Plurphanswat, Nantaporn F1000Res Correspondence A recent analysis of Swedish snus use and mortality combined eight Swedish datasets and found that exclusive Swedish male snus users have statistically significant increased mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases and other causes. These findings, from the Swedish Collaboration on Health Effects of Snus Use, are in sharp contrast with previous pooled results from the same group. The discrepant results may be indicative of unresolved statistical problems that haven’t been addressed by the collaboration authors in any of their studies. The most important problem is unresolved heterogeneity among the eight cohorts, which we describe in detail, and we show how the use of the random effects method by the authors was not sufficient. We explain why the tables in the article are uninformative, and we demonstrate why the exclusion of smokers in the analysis was not validated and eliminated important information. Finally, we strongly recommend some straightforward and easily implemented corrective measures. F1000 Research Limited 2021-05-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8917321/ /pubmed/35316937 http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.52127.1 Text en Copyright: © 2021 Rodu B and Plurphanswat N https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Correspondence
Rodu, Brad
Plurphanswat, Nantaporn
Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
title Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
title_full Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
title_fullStr Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
title_full_unstemmed Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
title_short Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
title_sort heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality
topic Correspondence
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8917321/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35316937
http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.52127.1
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