Thus, the study methodology does seem to avoid the problem of indications-for-treatment bias.
18 Non-infectious ocular inflammatory diseases provide a model system wherein the disease serving as the indication for immunosuppression seems unlikely to confer an increased risk of cancer or mortality, potentially avoiding the problem of indications-for-treatment bias.
For patients with chronic pain, there is a problem of confounding by indication.
Interpretation of the findings on corticosteroid use is less clear because of the less precise nature of the questions and the problem of confounding by indication.
Because of the problem of bias by indication, simply making treatment a time-dependent variable is more likely to introduce bias than adjust for it [ 56].
Studies addressing this problem of confounding by indication have reported no association between preterm birth and PI regimens, 44 not even with early exposure to therapy.
As a consequence, the problem of confounding by indication would not have been solved and our final results could have been either more or less confounded than those obtained by the case control and case crossover analyses [ 32].
Without effectively addressing the problem of bias by indication, ICS/LABA combinations can appear to increase the risk of asthma and COPD exacerbations in the general populations, when in fact the treatment is simply acting as a marker for more severe disease.
In surgical wards the main problem was lack of indication in 30.3% of prescriptions, particularly including pre-emptive antibiotic therapy after surgical interventions.
Exposure to ACE inhibitors offered an ideal comparison because the two drug classes have similar indications, reducing problems of confounding by indication, and ACE inhibitors themselves do not seem to be associated with risk of cancer.
The combination of severe substance abuse, poor general cognitive ability, severe psychosocial problems, including indications of antisocial behaviour, and other co-existing psychiatric conditions should be considered in treatment planning for adults with ADHD and SUD.
