What is your understanding of the word "attributed"? Why does it not imply "proven"?
To me, the word falls in the same category as "linked." It is usually used when a regression analysis has been performed, and some independent variable has been shown to have a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable.
I.e. it's an interpretation of evidence in a statistical framework. Nothing can ever be proven outside a robust theory; only made more or less likely, so I don't see why you'd reach for that word.
> Decomposition analyses showed 5.23 (95% CI, 4.97 to 5.47) fewer PASC events per 100 persons at 1 year during the omicron era than during the pre-delta and delta eras combined; 28.11% of the decrease (95% CI, 25.57 to 30.50) was attributable to era-related effects (changes in the virus and other temporal effects), and 71.89% (95% CI, 69.50 to 74.43) was attributable to vaccines.
Whether this study was good or bad, I don't know. But I think you're misunderstanding or misrepresenting the word "attributable."
What is your understanding of the word "attributed"? Why does it not imply "proven"?
To me, the word falls in the same category as "linked." It is usually used when a regression analysis has been performed, and some independent variable has been shown to have a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable.
I.e. it's an interpretation of evidence in a statistical framework. Nothing can ever be proven outside a robust theory; only made more or less likely, so I don't see why you'd reach for that word.
The study is https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2403211
> Decomposition analyses showed 5.23 (95% CI, 4.97 to 5.47) fewer PASC events per 100 persons at 1 year during the omicron era than during the pre-delta and delta eras combined; 28.11% of the decrease (95% CI, 25.57 to 30.50) was attributable to era-related effects (changes in the virus and other temporal effects), and 71.89% (95% CI, 69.50 to 74.43) was attributable to vaccines.
Whether this study was good or bad, I don't know. But I think you're misunderstanding or misrepresenting the word "attributable."