As an example from clinical practice, low ingestion of dietary sources of vitamin C is a known risk factor for developing scurvy.
Statistical methods are frequently used to assess the strength of an association and to provide causal evidence, for example in the study of the link between smoking and lung cancer.
[citation needed] When done thoughtfully and based on research, identification of risk factors can be a strategy for medical screening.
The potentially confounding determinants varies with what outcome is studied, but the following general confounders are common to most epidemiological associations, and are the determinants most commonly controlled for in epidemiological studies:[citation needed] Other less commonly adjusted for possible confounders include: A risk marker is a variable that is quantitatively associated with a disease or other outcome, but direct alteration of the risk marker does not necessarily alter the risk of the outcome.
[14] The term "risk factor" was coined by former Framingham Heart Study director, William B. Kannel in a 1961 article in Annals of Internal Medicine.