Testing Association in Case-Control Studies with Affected Siblings
Author Information
Author(s): Köhler Karola, Sohns Melanie, Bickeböller Heike
Primary Institution: Georg-August-University Goettingen, Medical School, Department of Genetic Epidemiology
Hypothesis
Can related cases improve the power of case-control studies for detecting genetic associations?
Conclusion
Including related cases in case-control studies can lead to an increased rate of false positives, but the proposed variance correction strategies perform well.
Supporting Evidence
- Related cases can increase the power of detecting genetic associations.
- Three strategies for correcting variance were tested and performed well.
- Significant associations were found for several candidate genes related to rheumatoid arthritis.
Takeaway
This study looks at how including family members in research can help find genetic links to diseases, but it also shows that it can sometimes lead to mistakes.
Methodology
The study derived a framework to test for association in case-control designs including affected sibships and unrelated controls, applying three strategies to analyze candidate genes and SNP data.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the inclusion of related individuals in the case-control design.
Limitations
The study may have limitations related to the assumptions of independence among cases from different sibships.
Participant Demographics
The study included 839 cases from the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium and 855 unrelated controls from healthy individuals.
Statistical Information
P-Value
<0.0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
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