lugialegend233 t1_j7buzti wrote
Reply to comment by W3remaid in Vitamin D supplements linked to reduced risk of suicide, study of veterans finds by thebelsnickle1991
Unfortunately no, this is an observational study, not an experiment, so even strong correlations are just correlations.
W3remaid t1_j7bvn50 wrote
That’s interesting, since the case and controls were matched to account for confounders (health status, socioeconomic factors, etc) —what do you think the alternative explanation might be?
lugialegend233 t1_j7bwrpr wrote
One other commenters gave a really good one, people who fill out subscriptions are less likely to have committed suicide because they still care about staying alive enough to take care of themselves. Suicide is a damn complicated subject, but if one is considering it, making the effort of filling a prescription seems... pointless, and I think if we look at people who fill out any non-psychoactive drug vs. committing suicide, we'd see a similar correlation. (Psychoactive excluded because things like depression meds are specifically meant to reduce suicide risk factors, and I believe would confound any results)
W3remaid t1_j7bx4va wrote
That doesn’t really work because this is a case-control design, meaning that their health status is controlled for. If they were were sick to the point of being non-compliant with meds that would be reflected in their control match
lugialegend233 t1_j7bxo10 wrote
If suicidal thoughts are considered a health-status, then this whole study is pointless, because they're controlling for the thing which directly leads to suicide. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point?
W3remaid t1_j7by2o8 wrote
Well obviously you’re not going to control for your dependent variable, that’s the entire point of the study, but they’ve controlled for other health problems. If someone were decompnsated to the point of being unable to pick up prescriptions that would be reflected in their other medical problems. This is partly why psychiatric conditions can lead to physical illness
caltheon t1_j7cr0mz wrote
If that was true, then you wouldn't expect to see a difference by dosage as the act of filling a prescription for a low dose has the same amount of effort as filling one for a higher dose.
xdavidliu t1_j7f1d4z wrote
the people who had lower dosages of Vitamin D did fill out prescriptions too; and they had higher risk than those who had higher dosages.
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