The complexity and inefficiency of multiple cross-classification as a means of controlling confounding in etiologic research may be avoided upon summarizing the pattern of confounding factors for each subject in terms of a multivariate score. The control of confounding may be based on stratification by the score, with stratum-specific contingency tables obtained and analyzed in the usual manner.
Olli S. Miettinen (1976) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: