Tests of trend between disease outcomes and ordinal covariates discretized from underlying continuous variables: simulation studies and applications to NHANES 2007–2008

Many epidemiological studies test trends when investigating the association between a risk factor and a disease outcome. Continuous exposures are commonly discretized when the outcome is nonlinearly related to exposure as well as to facilitate interpretation and reduce measurement error. Guidance is needed regarding statistically valid trend tests for epidemiological data of this nature.The association between a discretized variable and a...