A hypothesis-free approach to identifying potential effects of relative age in school year: an instrumental variable phenome-wide association study in the UK Biobank.

IF 5 2区 医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Melanie A de Lange, Neil M Davies, Louise A C Millard, Kate Tilling
{"title":"A hypothesis-free approach to identifying potential effects of relative age in school year: an instrumental variable phenome-wide association study in the UK Biobank.","authors":"Melanie A de Lange, Neil M Davies, Louise A C Millard, Kate Tilling","doi":"10.1093/aje/kwae331","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A child's relative age within their school year (\"relative age\") is associated with educational attainment and mental health. However, hypothesis-driven studies often re-examine the same outcomes and exposure, potentially leading to confirmation and reporting biases and missing unknown effects. Hypothesis-free outcome-wide analyses can potentially overcome these limitations. We conducted a hypothesis-free investigation of the effects of relative age within school year. We performed an instrumental variable (IV) phenome-wide association study in the UK Biobank (participants aged 40-69 years at baseline), using the PHESANT software package. We created 2 IVs for relative age: being born in September vs August (n = 64 075) and week of birth (n = 383 309). Outcomes passing the Bonferroni-corrected P value threshold for either instrument were plotted to identify a discontinuity at the school year transition. Thirteen traits associated with at least 1 of the instruments showed a discontinuity. Previously identified effects included those with a younger relative age being less likely to have educational qualifications and more likely to have started smoking at a younger age. We detected a few associations not explored by previous studies. For example, those of younger relative age had better lung function as adults. Hypothesis-free approaches could help address confirmation and reporting biases in epidemiology.</p>","PeriodicalId":7472,"journal":{"name":"American journal of epidemiology","volume":" ","pages":"1673-1680"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12133288/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American journal of epidemiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwae331","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

A child's relative age within their school year ("relative age") is associated with educational attainment and mental health. However, hypothesis-driven studies often re-examine the same outcomes and exposure, potentially leading to confirmation and reporting biases and missing unknown effects. Hypothesis-free outcome-wide analyses can potentially overcome these limitations. We conducted a hypothesis-free investigation of the effects of relative age within school year. We performed an instrumental variable (IV) phenome-wide association study in the UK Biobank (participants aged 40-69 years at baseline), using the PHESANT software package. We created 2 IVs for relative age: being born in September vs August (n = 64 075) and week of birth (n = 383 309). Outcomes passing the Bonferroni-corrected P value threshold for either instrument were plotted to identify a discontinuity at the school year transition. Thirteen traits associated with at least 1 of the instruments showed a discontinuity. Previously identified effects included those with a younger relative age being less likely to have educational qualifications and more likely to have started smoking at a younger age. We detected a few associations not explored by previous studies. For example, those of younger relative age had better lung function as adults. Hypothesis-free approaches could help address confirmation and reporting biases in epidemiology.

识别学年相对年龄潜在影响的无假设方法:英国生物库中的一项工具变量全局关联研究》(A Hypothesis-Free Approach to Identifying Potential Effects of Relative Age in School Year: an Instrumental Variable Phenome-Wide Association Study in the UK Biobank)。
儿童在学年内的相对年龄("相对年龄")与教育程度和心理健康有关。然而,假设驱动的研究往往会重新研究相同的结果和暴露,这可能会导致确认和报告偏差,并遗漏未知的影响。无假设的结果范围分析有可能克服这些局限性。我们对学年内相对年龄的影响进行了无假设调查。我们使用 PHESANT 软件包,在英国生物库中使用了工具变量(IV)-pheWAS(基线年龄为 40-69 岁的参与者)。我们为相对年龄创建了两个 IV:9 月出生与 8 月出生(n=64 075)和出生周(n=383 309)。我们绘制了两种工具中通过 Bonferroni 校正 P 值阈值的结果,以确定学年转换时的不连续性。与至少一种工具相关的 13 个特征显示出不连续性。以前发现的效应包括相对年龄较小的人拥有学历的可能性较小,以及开始吸烟的年龄较小的可能性较大。我们发现了一些以前的研究没有探讨过的关联。例如,相对年龄较小的人成年后肺功能较好。无假设方法有助于解决流行病学中的确认和报告偏差问题。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
American journal of epidemiology
American journal of epidemiology 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生
CiteScore
7.40
自引率
4.00%
发文量
221
审稿时长
3-6 weeks
期刊介绍: The American Journal of Epidemiology is the oldest and one of the premier epidemiologic journals devoted to the publication of empirical research findings, opinion pieces, and methodological developments in the field of epidemiologic research. It is a peer-reviewed journal aimed at both fellow epidemiologists and those who use epidemiologic data, including public health workers and clinicians.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信