noun · academic
covariate
UK/kəʊˈveərɪət/US/koʊˈveriət/co·VAR·i·ate
a variable that is possibly predictive of the outcome and is included in the analysis to control for its effect
Examples
“Age and baseline health status were included as covariates in the regression model.”
“We adjusted for covariates such as education and income to isolate the treatment effect.”
“Treating a confounder as a covariate can reduce bias if correctly specified.”
Band 8 sentence
“In the multivariable analysis we included socioeconomic status and baseline comorbidity as covariates to obtain an unbiased estimate of the intervention effect.”
Collocations
- include covariates
- adjust for covariates
Word family
Common mistakes
We put age as covariate without article.→We put age as a covariate.
Covariate means the same as confounder always.→A covariate may be a confounder but not all covariates are confounders.
Say it for a higher band
5control variable→6adjustment variable→7+covariate
Synonyms
control variable
Easily confused
confounder
“Smoking was identified as a confounder in the study of air pollution and lung disease.”
Related words
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In Science & Research
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