| Title: | A hypothesis-free approach to identifying potential effects of relative age in school year: an instrumental variable phenome-wide association study in the UK Biobank |
| Journal: | American Journal of Epidemiology |
| Published: | 31 Aug 2024 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39218436/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwae331 |
| URL: | https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/aje/kwae331/58986076/kwae331.pdf |
Publication 13046
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Abstract
A child's relative age within their school year ("relative age") is associated with educational attainment and mental health. However, hypothesis-driven studies often re-examine the same outcomes and exposure, potentially leading to confirmation and reporting biases and missing unknown effects. Hypothesis-free outcome-wide analyses can potentially overcome these limitations. We conducted a hypothesis-free investigation of the effects of relative age within school year. We performed an instrumental variable (IV) phenome-wide association study in the UK Biobank (participants aged 40-69 years at baseline), using the PHESANT software package. We created 2 IVs for relative age: being born in September vs August (n = 64 075) and week of birth (n = 383 309). Outcomes passing the Bonferroni-corrected P value threshold for either instrument were plotted to identify a discontinuity at the school year transition. Thirteen traits associated with at least 1 of the instruments showed a discontinuity. Previously identified effects included those with a younger relative age being less likely to have educational qualifications and more likely to have started smoking at a younger age. We detected a few associations not explored by previous studies. For example, those of younger relative age had better lung function as adults. Hypothesis-free approaches could help address confirmation and reporting biases in epidemiology.</p>
13 Keywords
- Adult
- Age Factors
- Aged
- Biological Specimen Banks
- Educational Status
- Female
- Genome-Wide Association Study
- Humans
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Phenotype
- UK Biobank
- United Kingdom
4 Authors
- Melanie A de Lange
- Neil M Davies
- Louise A C Millard
- Kate Tilling
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 16729 | MR-PheWAS: hypothesis prioritization among potential causal effects of body mass index on many outcomes with Mendelian randomisation, using 500K participants of the UK biobank |
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