Re: Ecological Study- I Need a Primer!

["John Williams" <JohnWi@law.com>]

Bates,



Do you get the Health Physics Journal?  If so, this article may be 

helpful.



Stidley CA. Samet JM., New Mexico Tumor Registry, Cancer Research 

Center, Albuquerque 87131-5306.



Title

A review of ecologic studies of lung cancer and indoor radon. 

Comments

Comment in: Health Phys. 1994 Feb;66(2):212



Source

Health Physics. 65(3):234-51, 1993 Sep.



Local Messages

Hardin Library has current subscription



Abstract

Although radon exposure is an established cause of lung cancer among 

underground miners, the lung cancer risk to the general population 

 from indoor radon remains controversial. This controversy stems in 

part from the contradictory results of published studies of indoor 

radon and lung cancer, including 15 ecologic studies, seven of which 

found a positive association, six no association, and two a negative 

association. To address the misunderstanding of the indoor radon risk 

that has resulted from these ecologic studies, the authors discuss 

the general methodologic problems and limitations of ecologic 

studies, and the particular limitations of these 15 studies. The 

authors conclude that the shortcomings of the ecologic studies render 

them uninformative on the lung cancer risk associated with indoor 

radon. [References: 45]



Another good article is:

Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 101, Supplement 4, December 

1993



Principles of Study Design in Environmental Epidemiology

Hal Morgenstern1* and Duncan Thomas2



1Department of Epidemiology, University of California at Los Angeles, 

School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1772; 2Department of 

Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, School of 

Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90033-9987







----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

Abstract



This paper discusses the principles of study design and related 

methodologic issues in environmental epidemiology. Emphasis is given 

to studies aimed at evaluating causal hypotheses regarding exposures 

to suspected health hazards. Following background sections on the 

quantitative objectives and methods of population-based research, we 

present the major types of observational designs used in 

environmental epidemiology: first, the three basic designs involving 

the individual as the unit of analysis (i.e., cohort, cross-

sectional, and case-control studies) and a brief discussion of 

genetic studies for assessing gene-environment interactions; second, 

various ecologic designs involving the group or region as the unit of 

analysis. Ecologic designs are given special emphasis in this paper 

because of our lack of resources or inability to accurately measure 

environmental exposures in large numbers of individuals. The paper 

concludes with a section highlighting current design issues in 

environmental epidemiology and several recommendations for future 

work. -- Environ Health Perspect 101(Suppl 4):23-38 (1993).



Key Words: Study design, epidemiologic methods, environmental health, 

ecologic studies, aggregate studies, causal inference



-----------------------------

Also,

Health Phys 1999 Sep;77(3):328-9  

Cohen's Paradox

Comment on: 

Health Phys. 1999 Apr;76(4):439-40 



-------------------------------------

Good general texts are Principles of Epidemiology by Rothman

and Epidemioloy: Beyond the Basics by Nieto.



Can be obtained via Amazon.com











Sent by Law  Mail

************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.