A geneticist is curious about the possible causes of a congenital anomaly. She speculates that acetaminophen usage during the first trimester of pregnancy may be linked to the anomaly. In her study, a random sample of moms with and without the anomaly is drawn from official birth data. Personal interviews with the moms are then done to identify fetal exposure to acetaminophen. According to the findings, moms of children who did not have the anomaly used acetaminophen less often throughout the first trimester. Which of the following forms of bias is most likely to occur in this sort of study?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Memory bias is caused by research participants' incorrect recall of previous exposure and is especially common in retrospective investigations such as case-control studies. People who have experienced an unfavorable occurrence (for example, congenital defects in their children) are more likely to recall prior possible risk factors (for example, acetaminophen usage) than those who have not.
Prospective studies begin with exposed and unexposed people, as opposed to case-control studies, which analyze exposure to possible risk variables retrospectively. Because the exposure status is known at the time of study participation, memory bias is reduced.

A Geneticist Is Curious About the Possible Causes of a Congenital