The case-control design and the assessment of the efficacy of cancer screening

Abstract

Case-control studies have been used in recent years to evaluate the efficacy of cancer screening. However, relatively little work has been done to examine the methodology itself for this purpose. In this paper, it is demonstrated that because of self-selection bias the case-control study can yield a biased estimate of screening efficacy. Further, it is shown how this bias can be assessed using data from a randomized trial. Using data from the HIP breast cancer screening study, the magnitude of the self-selection bias is estimated and is seen to be substantial.