A Note on The Rationale Behind Using Parental Longevity as a Proxy in Mendelian Randomization Studies

Abstract

In many cohorts (such as the UK Biobank) on which Mendelian Randomization studies are routinely performed, data on participants' longevity is inadequate as the majority of participants are still living. To nevertheless estimate effects on longevity, it is increasingly common for researchers to substitute participants' `parental attained age', i.e. parental lifespan or current age (which is routinely collected in UK Biobank), as a proxy outcome. The common approach to performing this clever trick appears to be based on a solid understanding of its underlying assumptions. However, we have not seen these assumptions (or the causal effects whose identification they enable) clearly stated anywhere in the literature. In this note, we fill that gap.