[R] Stats question - cox proportional hazards adjustments

[Geoff Russell]

Hi useRs,

Many studies of the link between red meat and colorectal cancer use
Cox proportional
hazards with (among other things) a gender covariate.

If it is true that men eat more red meat, drink more alcohol and smoke more than
women, and if it is also true that alcohol and tobacco are known risk
factors then why does
it make sense to "adjust" for gender?   I would think that in this
case some of the
risk that should be properly attributed to the bad habits will actually end
up being attributed to being male instead.


Cheers,
Geoff Russell