The new accounting for expected adjusted effect test (AEAE test) has higher positive predictive value than a zero-order significance test.

The AEAE test exhibited greater PPV compared to a traditional zero-order significance test, especially with a strong true adjusted effect, low prior probability, high degree of confounding, large sample size, high reliability in the measurement of predictor X and outcome Y, and low reliability in the measurement of confounder Z. The zero-order significance test, on the other hand, exhibited higher NPV, except for some combinations of high degree of confounding and large sample size, or low reliability in the measurement of Z and high reliability in the measurement of X/Y, in which case the zero-order significance test can be completely uninformative. Taken together, the findings demonstrate desirable statistical properties for the AEAE test compared to a traditional zero-order significance test.