Simulation study on the validity of the average risk approach in estimating population attributable fractions for continuous exposures

BACKGROUND: The population attributable fraction (PAF) is an important metric for estimating disease burden associated with causal risk factors. In an International Agency for Research on Cancer working group report, an approach was introduced to estimate the PAF using the average of a continuous exposure and the incremental relative risk (RR) per unit. This 'average risk' approach has been subsequently applied in several studies conducted …