Biological plausibility

Biological Plausibility refers to the reasonable likelihood that a correlation or association between two variables in an epidemiological study is not due to chance, but is 'plausible' from the standpoint of contemporary biological or medical knowledge. It is one of the Bradford Hill criteria for determining causal relationships in medicine and public health.

Definition

Biological plausibility is the concept that a causal relationship between two variables in an epidemiological study is credible and coherent with the current body of biological knowledge. It is a key component of the Bradford Hill criteria, a group of minimal conditions necessary to provide adequate evidence of a causal relationship between an incidence and a consequence.

Importance

Biological plausibility is crucial in the field of epidemiology and public health as it helps researchers to differentiate between correlations that are likely to be causal and those that are likely to be due to chance, confounding factors, or bias. It is also important in the development of public health policy and clinical guidelines, as it helps to ensure that these are based on sound scientific evidence.

Limitations

While biological plausibility is a useful tool in epidemiological research, it has its limitations. It is dependent on the current state of biological knowledge, which is constantly evolving. Therefore, what may seem biologically implausible today may become plausible in the future as new knowledge is gained. Furthermore, biological plausibility alone is not sufficient to establish causality; it must be considered in conjunction with other Bradford Hill criteria such as consistency, temporality, and dose-response relationship.

See also

• Bradford Hill criteria
• Epidemiology
• Public health

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