Methodology
Growth, current size and the role of the 'reversal paradox' in the foetal origins of adult disease: an illustration using vector geometry
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* Corresponding author: Yu-Kang Tu y.k.tu@leeds.ac.uk
1 Biostatistics Unit, Centre for Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Leeds, 30/32 Hyde Terrace, Leeds, LS2 9LN, UK
2 Leeds Dental Institute, University of Leeds, Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9LU, UK
3 St George's – University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK
Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 2006, 3:9 doi:10.1186/1742-5573-3-9
Published: 2 August 2006First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
Numerous studies have reported inverse associations between birth weight and a range of diseases in later life. These have led to the development of the 'foetal origins of adult disease hypothesis'. However, many such studies have only been able to demonstrate a statistically significant association between birth weight and disease in later life by adjusting for current size. This has been interpreted as evidence that the impact of low birth weight on subsequent disease is somehow dependent on subsequent weight gain, and has led to a broadening of the hypothesis into the 'developmental origins of health and disease'. Unfortunately, much of the epidemiological evidence used for both of these interpretations is prone to a statistical artefact known as the 'reversal paradox'. The aim of this paper is to illustrate why, using vector geometry.