| 1. |
- Aarhus, L, et al.
(författare)
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Occupational Noise Exposure and Vestibular Schwannoma: A Case-Control Study in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: American journal of epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1476-6256 .- 0002-9262. ; 189:11, s. 1342-1347
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been suggested that the association between self-reported occupational noise exposure and vestibular schwannoma (VS), found in several studies, represents recall bias. Therefore, we aimed to study the relationship in a large case-control study using occupational noise measurements. We performed a case-control study using data from Sweden for 1,913 VS cases diagnosed in 1961–2009 and 9,566 age- and sex-matched population controls. We defined occupational history by linkage to national censuses from 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990. We estimated occupational noise exposure for each case and control using a job-exposure matrix. There was no association between occupational noise exposure and VS. Among subjects assessed as ever exposed to occupational noise levels of ≥85 dB (214 cases and 1,142 controls), the odds ratio for VS per 5 years of exposure was 1.02 (95% confidence interval: 0.90, 1.17). Workers with noise levels of ≥85 dB for at least 15 years (5-year latency period), showed no increased risk of VS (odds ratio = 0.98, 95% confidence interval: 0.73, 1.31) compared with those who had never been exposed to noise levels of 75 dB or higher. In summary, our large study does not support an association between occupational noise exposure and VS.
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| 2. |
- Ballin, Marcel, et al.
(författare)
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Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality in Male Twins with Discordant Cardiorespiratory Fitness : A Nationwide Cohort Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 189:10, s. 1114-1123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Whether genetic and familial factors influence the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unknown. Two cohorts were formed based on 1,212,295, 18-year-old men that conscripted for military service in Sweden 1972-1996. The first comprised 4,260 twin pairs where twins in each pair had different CRF (≥1 Watt). The second comprised 90,331 non-sibling pairs with different CRF and matched on birth year and year of conscription. Incident CVD and all-cause mortality were identified using national registers. During follow-up (median 32 years), there was no difference in CVD and mortality between fitter twins and less fit twins (246 vs 251 events; hazard ratio [HR] = 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83, 1.20). The risks were similar in twin pairs with ≥60 Watt difference in CRF (HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.57, 1.64). In contrast, in the non-sibling cohort, fitter men had a lower risk of the outcomes than less fit men (4444 vs 5298 events; HR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83, 0.92). The association was stronger in pairs with ≥60 Watt difference in CRF (HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.59, 0.71). These findings indicate that genetic and familial factors influence the association of CRF with CVD and mortality.
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| 3. |
- Bonander, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Synthetic Control Methods for the Evaluation of Single-Unit Interventions in Epidemiology: A Tutorial.
- 2021
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Ingår i: American journal of epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1476-6256 .- 0002-9262. ; 190:12, s. 2700-2711
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evaluating the impacts of population-level interventions (e.g., changes to state legislation) can be challenging as conducting randomized experiments is often impractical and inappropriate, especially in settings where the intervention is implemented in a single, aggregate unit (e.g., a country or state). A common nonrandomized alternative is to compare outcomes in the treated unit(s) with unexposed controls both before and after the intervention. However, the validity of these designs depends on the use of controls that closely resemble the treated unit on before-intervention characteristics and trends on the outcome, and suitable controls may be difficult to find because the number of potential control regions is typically limited. The synthetic control method provides a potential solution to these problems by using a data-driven algorithm to identify an optimal weighted control unit-a "synthetic control"-based on data from before the intervention from available control units. While popular in the social sciences, the method has not garnered as much attention in health research, perhaps due to a lack of accessible texts aimed at health researchers. We address this gap by providing a comprehensive, nontechnical tutorial on the synthetic control method, using a worked example evaluating Florida's "stand your ground" law to illustrate methodological and practical considerations.
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| 4. |
- Carsin, Anne-Elie, et al.
(författare)
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Regular Physical Activity Levels and Incidence of Restrictive Spirometry Pattern : A Longitudinal Analysis of Two Population-based Cohorts
- 2020
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Ingår i: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 189:12, s. 1521-1528
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We estimated the association between regular physical activity and the incidence of restrictive spirometry pattern. Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and physical activity were assessed in 2 population-based European cohorts (European Community Respiratory Health Survey: n = 2,757, aged 39–67 years; and Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults: n = 2,610, aged 36–82 years) first in 2000–2002 and again approximately 10 years later (2010–2013). Subjects with restrictive or obstructive spirometry pattern at baseline were excluded. We assessed the association of being active at baseline (defined as being physically active at least 2–3 times/week for ≥1 hour) with restrictive spirometry pattern at follow-up (defined as a postbronchodilation FEV1/FVC ratio of at least the lower limit of normal and FVC of <80% predicted) using modified Poisson regression, adjusting for relevant confounders. After 10 years of follow-up, 3.3% of participants had developed restrictive spirometry pattern. Being physically active was associated with a lower risk of developing this phenotype (relative risk = 0.76, 95% confidence interval: 0.59, 0.98). This association was stronger among those who were overweight and obese than among those of normal weight (P for interaction = 0.06). In 2 large European studies, adults practicing regular physical activity were at lower risk of developing restrictive spirometry pattern over 10 years.
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| 5. |
- Ciocanea-Teodorescu, I, et al.
(författare)
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Adjustment for Disease Severity in the Test-Negative Study Design
- 2021
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Ingår i: American journal of epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1476-6256 .- 0002-9262. ; 190:9, s. 1882-1889
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The test-negative study design is often used to estimate vaccine effectiveness in influenza studies, but it has also been proposed in the context of other infectious diseases, such as cholera, dengue, or Ebola. It was introduced as a variation of the case-control design, in an attempt to reduce confounding bias due to health-care–seeking behavior, and has quickly gained popularity because of its logistic advantages. However, examination of the directed acyclic graphs that describe the test-negative design reveals that without strong assumptions, the estimated odds ratio derived under this sampling mechanism is not collapsible over the selection variable, such that the results obtained for the sampled individuals cannot be generalized to the whole population. In this paper, we show that adjustment for severity of disease can reduce this bias and, under certain assumptions, makes it possible to unbiasedly estimate a causal odds ratio. We support our findings with extensive simulations and discuss them in the context of recently published cholera test-negative studies of the effectiveness of cholera vaccines.
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| 6. |
- Ding, Ming, et al.
(författare)
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Additive and Multiplicative Interactions Between Genetic Risk Score and Family History and Lifestyle in Relation to Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- 2020
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Ingår i: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 189:5, s. 445-460
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examined interactions between lifestyle factors and genetic risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D-GR), captured by genetic risk score (GRS) and family history (FH). Our initial study cohort included 20,524 European-ancestry participants, of whom 1,897 developed incident T2D, in the Nurses' Health Study (1984-2016), Nurses' Health Study II (1989-2016), and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986-2016). The analyses were replicated in 19,183 European-ancestry controls and 2,850 incident T2D cases in the Women's Genome Health Study (1992-2016). We defined 2 categories of T2D-GR: high GRS (upper one-third) with FH and low GRS or without FH. Compared with participants with the healthiest lifestyle and low T2D-GR, the relative risk of T2D for participants with the healthiest lifestyle and high T2D-GR was 2.24 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.76, 2.86); for participants with the least healthy lifestyle and low T2D-GR, it was 4.05 (95% CI: 3.56, 4.62); and for participants with the least healthy lifestyle and high T2D-GR, it was 8.72 (95% CI: 7.46, 10.19). We found a significant departure from an additive risk difference model in both the initial and replication cohorts, suggesting that adherence to a healthy lifestyle could lead to greater absolute risk reduction among those with high T2D-GR. The public health implication is that a healthy lifestyle is important for diabetes prevention, especially for individuals with high GRS and FH of T2D.
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| 7. |
- Eidemüller, Markus, et al.
(författare)
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Evidence for Increased Susceptibility for Breast Cancer from Exposure to Ionizing Radiation Due to Familial Breast Cancer History: Results from the Swedish Hemangioma Cohort.
- 2021
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Ingår i: American journal of epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1476-6256 .- 0002-9262. ; 190:1, s. 76-84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Women with breast cancer among family members are at increased risk for breast cancer. However, it is unknown whether familial breast cancer history (FBCH) also increases individual susceptibility for breast cancer from radiation exposure. In this cohort study, 17,200 female Swedish hemangioma patients with 1,079 breast cancer cases between 1958-2013, exposed by ionizing radiation in infancy, were linked to their first-degree relatives. The association between FBCH and radiation-induced breast cancer risk was assessed. Further, the relevance for breast cancer radiotherapy and mammography screening was evaluated. On average, the radiation-induced excess relative (ERR) and absolute risk (EAR) at age 50 was ERR = 0.51 Gy-1 (95%CI: 0.33; 0.71), and EAR = 10.8 (104 PYR Gy)-1 (95%CI: 7.0; 14.6). Radiation risk was higher by a factor of 2.7 (95%CI: 1.0; 4.8, P = 0.05) if one first-degree relative was affected with breast cancer. For whole breast standard radiotherapy at age 40 with a contralateral breast dose of 0.72 Gy, the 20-year radiation-related excess contralateral breast cancer risk was estimated to increase from 0.6% for women without FBCH to 1.7% with FBCH. For biennial mammography screening program between 40-74 years of age, radiation risk until age 80 would increase from 0.11% for women without FBCH to 0.29% with FBCH.
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| 8. |
- Ekheden, I, et al.
(författare)
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Associations Between Gastric Atrophy and Its Interaction With Poor Oral Health and the Risk for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a High-Risk Region of China: A Population-Based Case-Control Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: American journal of epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1476-6256 .- 0002-9262. ; 189:9, s. 931-941
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous findings concerning gastric atrophy as a potential risk factor for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have been inconsistent. We aimed to test whether gastric atrophy and, further, its interaction with poor oral health elevated the risk of ESCC in a high-risk region of China. Our population-based case-control study in Taixing, China (2010–2014), recruited cases from local hospitals and the local cancer registry. Controls were selected randomly from the local population registry. Ultimately, 1,210 cases and 1,978 controls answered questionnaires and provided blood samples for assay of pepsinogens. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Gastric atrophy (defined as a serum level of pepsinogen I of <55 μg/L) was associated with an increased risk for ESCC (odds ratio = 1.61; 95% confidence interval: 1.33, 1.96), even after full adjustment for potential confounding factors. In addition, suggestion of an additive interaction between gastric atrophy and poor oral health was observed (relative excess risk due to interaction = 1.28, 95% confidence interval: 0.39, 2.18). We conclude that gastric atrophy appears to be a risk factor for ESCC in a high-risk region of China, and there is a suggested additive interaction with poor oral health that increases this risk even further.
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| 9. |
- Frisell, T
(författare)
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Invited Commentary: Sibling-Comparison Designs, Are They Worth the Effort?
- 2021
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Ingår i: American journal of epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1476-6256 .- 0002-9262. ; 190:5, s. 738-741
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this issue of the Journal, von Ehrenstein et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2021;190(5):728–737) add to the large and growing literature on the potentially causal association between prenatal exposure to maternal smoking and neuropsychiatric health. In addition to statewide, prospectively collected data, a particular strength was their ability to perform a sibling-comparison design, contrasting the rate of autism spectrum disorder in siblings discordantly exposed to maternal smoking. Unfortunately, the estimate from the sibling pairs could neither confirm nor refute the conclusions based on the full cohort. Interpretation was hampered by broad confidence limits, and even had power been higher, the authors acknowledge a range of potential biases that would have made it difficult to draw any firm conclusions from a similarity or difference in the sibling-pair estimate and estimate from the full cohort. Was the addition of the sibling comparison actually worth the effort? In this commentary, I will briefly summarize the benefits and limitations of this design, and, with some caveats, argue that its inclusion in the study by von Ehrenstein et al. was indeed a strength and not just an ornamentation.
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| 10. |
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