@article {979,
	title = {Associations of plasma fibrinogen levels with established cardiovascular disease risk factors, inflammatory markers, and other characteristics: individual participant meta-analysis of 154,211 adults in 31 prospective studies: the fibrinogen studies collab},
	journal = {Am J Epidemiol},
	volume = {166},
	year = {2007},
	month = {2007 Oct 15},
	pages = {867-79},
	abstract = {<p>Long-term increases in plasma fibrinogen levels of 1 g/liter are associated with an approximate doubling of risk of major cardiovascular disease outcomes, but causality remains uncertain. To quantify cross-sectional associations of fibrinogen levels with established risk factors and other characteristics, the investigators combined individual data on 154,211 apparently healthy adults from 31 prospective studies conducted between 1967 and 2003, using a linear mixed model that included random effects at the cohort level. Fibrinogen levels increased with age and showed continuous, approximately linear relations with several risk markers and slightly curvilinear associations with log triglycerides, albumin, and tobacco and alcohol consumption. Female sex, Black ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status, and alcohol abstinence were each associated with modestly higher fibrinogen levels. Approximately one third of the variation in fibrinogen levels was explained by cohort, age, and sex. An additional 7\% was explained by established risk factors (notably, positive associations with smoking and body mass index and an inverse association with high density lipoprotein cholesterol), and a further 10\% was explained by inflammatory markers (notably, a positive association with C-reactive protein). The association with body mass index was twice as strong in women as in men, whereas the association with smoking was much stronger in men. These findings substantially advance understanding of the correlates and possible determinants of fibrinogen levels.</p>},
	keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Age Factors, Biomarkers, Body Mass Index, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cohort Studies, Female, Fibrinogen, Humans, Linear Models, Male, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Smoking, Social Class, United States},
	issn = {0002-9262},
	doi = {10.1093/aje/kwm191},
	author = {Kaptoge, S and White, I R and Thompson, S G and Wood, A M and Lewington, S and Lowe, G D O and Danesh, J}
}
@article {1079,
	title = {Systematically missing confounders in individual participant data meta-analysis of observational cohort studies.},
	journal = {Stat Med},
	volume = {28},
	year = {2009},
	month = {2009 Apr 15},
	pages = {1218-37},
	abstract = {<p>One difficulty in performing meta-analyses of observational cohort studies is that the availability of confounders may vary between cohorts, so that some cohorts provide fully adjusted analyses while others only provide partially adjusted analyses. Commonly, analyses of the association between an exposure and disease either are restricted to cohorts with full confounder information, or use all cohorts but do not fully adjust for confounding. We propose using a bivariate random-effects meta-analysis model to use information from all available cohorts while still adjusting for all the potential confounders. Our method uses both the fully adjusted and the partially adjusted estimated effects in the cohorts with full confounder information, together with an estimate of their within-cohort correlation. The method is applied to estimate the association between fibrinogen level and coronary heart disease incidence using data from 154,012 participants in 31 cohorts</p>},
	keywords = {Cohort Studies, Computer Simulation, Coronary Disease, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Fibrinogen, Humans, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Models, Statistical},
	issn = {0277-6715},
	doi = {10.1002/sim.3540},
	author = {Jackson, Dan and White, Ian and Kostis, J B and Wilson, A C and Folsom, A R and Wu, K and Chambless, L and Benderly, M and Goldbourt, U and Willeit, J and Kiechl, S and Yarnell, J W G and Sweetnam, P M and Elwood, P C and Cushman, M and Psaty, B M and Tracy, R P and Tybjaerg-Hansen, A and Haverkate, F and de Maat, M P M and Thompson, S G and Fowkes, F G R and Lee, A J and Smith, F B and Salomaa, V and Harald, K and Rasi, V and Vahtera, E and Jousilahti, P and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, R and Kannel, W B and Wilson, P W F and Tofler, G and Levy, D and Marchioli, R and Valagussa, F and Rosengren, A and Wilhelmsen, L and Lappas, G and Eriksson, H and Cremer, P and Nagel, D and Curb, J D and Rodriguez, B and Yano, K and Salonen, J  T and Nyyss{\"o}nen, K and Tuomainen, T-P and Hedblad, B and Engstrom, G and Berglund, G and Loewel, H and Koenig, W and Hense, H W and Meade, T W and Cooper, J A and De Stavola, B and Knottenbelt, C and Miller, G J and Cooper, J A and Bauer, K A and Rosenberg, R D and Sato, S and Kitamura, A and Naito, Y and Iso, H and Salomaa, V and Harald, K and Rasi, V and Vahtera, E and Jousilahti, P and Palosuo, T and Ducimetiere, P and Amouyel, P and Arveiler, D and Evans, A E and Ferrieres, J and Juhan-Vague, I and Bingham, A and Schulte, H and Assmann, G and Cantin, B and Lamarche, B and Despr{\'e}s, J-P and Dagenais, G R and Tunstall-Pedoe, H and Lowe, G D O and Woodward, M and Ben-Shlomo, Y and Davey Smith, G and Palmieri, V and Yeh, J L and Meade, T W and Rudnicka, A and Brennan, P and Knottenbelt, C and Cooper, J A and Ridker, P and Rodeghiero, F and Tosetto, A and Shepherd, J and Lowe, G D O and Ford, I and Robertson, M and Brunner, E and Shipley, M and Feskens, E J M and Di Angelantonio, E and Kaptoge, S and Lewington, S and Lowe, G D O and Sarwar, N and Thompson, S G and Walker, M and Watson, S and White, I R and Wood, A M and Danesh, J}
}
