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Medical AI Inquiry: You were designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.
user
A gastroenterology fellow is interested in the relationship between smoking and incidence of Barrett esophagus. At a departmental grand rounds she recently attended, one of the presenters claimed that smokers are only at increased risk for Barrett esophagus in the presence of acid reflux. She decides to design a retrospective cohort study to investigate the association between smoking and Barrett esophagus. After comparing 400 smokers to 400 non-smokers identified via chart review, she finds that smokers were at increased risk of Barrett esophagus at the end of a 10-year follow-up period (RR = 1.82, p < 0.001). Among patients with a history of acid reflux, there was no relationship between smoking and Barrett esophagus (p = 0.52). Likewise, no relationship was found between smoking and Barrett esophagus among patients without a history of acid reflux (p = 0.48). The results of this study are best explained by which of the following?
assistant
Confounding