This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Greenland, S. Articles by Kheifets, L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Greenland, S. Articles by Kheifets, L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Designs and analyses for exploring the relationship of magnetic fields to childhood leukaemia: A pilot project for the Danish National Birth Cohort

Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, lesdomes{at}ucla.edu

Leeka Kheifets

Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, National Birth Cohort, Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark

Pooled analyses have consistently displayed an association of childhood leukaemia with residential magnetic fields, even after attempting to account for study problems. In light of the serious possibility that the link is indeed causal, a study of possible joint effects (interactions) of magnetic fields and genetic cofactors on childhood leukaemia may be justifiable. Such a study would face serious obstacles of limited numbers for subgroup analysis. To address these obstacles, we describe a design and analysis strategy that combines multiphase (multistage) sampling, measurement error modelling, and Bayesian methods for subgroup analysis that incorporate information from earlier pooled analyses. Special attention is given to prior specification, which would be the potentially controversial element. The approach could be pilot tested on data from the Danish National Birth Cohort, but an informative study would require augmenting these data with case-control sampling. We conclude that the approach outlined may be of value not only for this topic but also in other studies of effects of rare exposures and genetic factors on rare outcomes.

Key Words: Bayesian methods • childhood leukaemia • magnetic fields • multiphase sampling • shrinkage estimation

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 37, No. 1, 83-92 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1403494808097253


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?