Biomaterial Database

Subject selection bias in alcoholics volunteering for a treatment study. 1990

D B Strohmetz, and A I Alterman, and D Walter

Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Baseline differences in alcoholism problem severity were compared between alcoholics who did and did not volunteer to participate in a treatment effectiveness study. A positive relationship was found between self-reports of alcohol-related problems and the degree of research participation. Group differences were also revealed in the rate of treatment completion. Possible explanations and solutions for this volunteer bias are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D003631	Day Care, Medical	Institutional health care of patients during the day. The patients return home at night.	Day Care,Hospitalization, Partial,Care, Day,Medical Day Care,Partial Hospitalization
D005500	Follow-Up Studies	Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.	Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006760	Hospitalization	The confinement of a patient in a hospital.	Hospitalizations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000428	Alcohol Drinking	Behaviors associated with the ingesting of ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, including social drinking.	Alcohol Consumption,Alcohol Intake,Drinking, Alcohol,Alcohol Drinking Habits,Alcohol Drinking Habit,Alcohol Intakes,Consumption, Alcohol,Drinking Habit, Alcohol,Habit, Alcohol Drinking,Habits, Alcohol Drinking,Intake, Alcohol
D000437	Alcoholism	A primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (Morse & Flavin for the Joint Commission of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism: in JAMA 1992;268:1012-4)	Alcohol Abuse,Alcoholic Intoxication, Chronic,Ethanol Abuse,Alcohol Addiction,Alcohol Dependence,Alcohol Use Disorder,Abuse, Alcohol,Abuse, Ethanol,Addiction, Alcohol,Alcohol Use Disorders,Chronic Alcoholic Intoxication,Dependence, Alcohol,Intoxication, Chronic Alcoholic,Use Disorders, Alcohol
D015983	Selection Bias	The introduction of error due to systematic differences in the characteristics between those selected and those not selected for a given study. In sampling bias, error is the result of failure to ensure that all members of the reference population have a known chance of selection in the sample.	Bias, Selection,Sampling Bias,Sampling Biases,Sampling Error,Selection Biases,Bias, Sampling,Biases, Sampling,Biases, Selection,Error, Sampling,Errors, Sampling,Sampling Errors