The Association Between Age at Initiation of Alcohol Consumption and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cohort Study of 0.5 Million Persons in China
In conclusion, late AAI and a short drinking duration were associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in this large prospective cohort study of Chinese adults, but early AAI and long drinking duration were not. (Source: American Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - September 2, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
A Likelihood Ratio Test for Gene-Environment Interaction Based on the Trend Effect of Genotype Under an Additive Risk Model Using the Gene-Environment Independence Assumption
AbstractSeveral statistical methods have been proposed for testing gene-environment (G-E) interactions under additive risk models using data from genome-wide association studies. However, these approaches have strong assumptions from underlying genetic models, such as dominant or recessive effects that are known to be less robust when the true genetic model is unknown. We aimed to develop a robust trend test employing a likelihood ratio test for detecting G-E interaction under an additive risk model, while incorporating the G-E independence assumption to increase power. We used a constrained likelihood to impose 2 sets of ...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - September 1, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
COVID-19 in Health-Care Workers: A Living Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prevalence, Risk Factors, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes
AbstractHealth-care workers (HCWs) are at the frontline of response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), being at a higher risk of acquiring the disease and, subsequently, exposing patients and others. Searches of 8 bibliographic databases were performed to systematically review the evidence on the prevalence, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among HCWs. A total of 97 studies (all published in 2020) met the inclusion criteria. The estimated prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection from HCWs ’ samples, using reverse transcriptionâ€...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - September 1, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Concerns About the Special Article on Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin in High-Risk Outpatients With COVID-19
AbstractIn May 2020, theJournal published an opinion piece by a member of the Editorial Board, in which the author reviewed several papers and argued that using hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)  + azithromycin (AZ) early to treat symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in high-risk patients should be broadly applied. As members of theJournal’s Editorial Board, we are strongly supportive of open debate in science, which is essential even on highly contentious issues. However, we must also be thorough in our examination of the facts and open to changing our minds when new information arises. In this commentary, we ...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 29, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Maternal Prenatal Smoking and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: A California Statewide Cohort and Sibling Study
We examined associations between maternal smoking and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children in a statewide population-based cohort and sibling-comparison design using California birth records (n = 2,015,104) with information on maternal smoking, demographic factors, and pregnancy (2007–2010). ASD cases (n = 11,722) were identified through California Department of Developmental Services records with diagnoses based on theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–IV-TR. We estimated odds ratios for ASD with and without intellectual disability in the full cohort using logistic regression and in a sibl...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 24, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Invited Commentary: Sibling-Comparison Designs, Are They Worth the Effort?
AbstractIn this issue of theJournal, 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, con trasting 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. Interpretat...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 24, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
von Ehrenstein et. al Respond to “Are Sibling Comparison Designs Worth the Effort?”
We thank Frisell for his insightful commentary that highlights the strengths and many challenges of the sibling-comparison design in general and, in particular, when assessing a habitual or addictive behavior during pregnancy, smoking, and a rare neurodevelopmental outcome, autism in the offspring (1,2). We agree that the sibling-comparison design needs to be critically evaluated because of the particular biases pointed out by Frisell and that it nevertheless can contribute information to triangulation when assessing causality in observational studies (1,3). The sibling-comparison design is indeed intuitively appealing as ...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 24, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
A Note From the Editors
There has been much conversation about a series of opinion pieces on the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for the treatment of coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) recently published online ahead of print in theAmerican Journal of Epidemiology (AJE). (Source: American Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 18, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Associations of ω-3 Fatty Acids With Interstitial Lung Disease and Lung Imaging Abnormalities Among Adults
We examined associations of circulating levels of DHA and other polyunsaturated fatty acids with hospitalization and death due to ILD over 12 years in the Multi-Ethnic S tudy of Atherosclerosis (MESA;n = 6,573). We examined cross-sectional associations with CT lung abnormalities in MESA (2000–2012;n = 6,541), the Framingham Heart Study (2005 –2011;n = 3,917), and the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-Reykjavik) (2002 –2006;n = 1,106). Polyunsaturated fatty acid levels were determined from fasting blood samples and extracted from plasma phospholipids (MESA and AGES-Reykjavik) or red blood ce...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 17, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Adjusting Coronavirus Prevalence Estimates for Laboratory Test Kit Error
AbstractTesting representative populations to determine the prevalence or the percentage of the population with active severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and/or antibodies to infection is being recommended as essential for making public policy decisions to ease restrictions or to continue enforcing national, state, and local government rules to shelter in place. However, all laboratory tests are imperfect and have estimates of sensitivity and specificity less than 100% —in some cases, considerably less than 100%. That error will lead to biased prevalence estimates. If the true prevalence is low, po...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 17, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
A Note From the Editors
We recently published online ahead of print a series of opinion pieces on the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of coronavirus 19 that will soon appear in a print issue. The opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of theAmerican Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) or its editors. Here at theAJE, we appreciate healthy scientific debate and examination of all sides of the issues. We recognize that sometimes issues may be contentious, especially in areas in which the science is evolving quickly; however, open discussion is beneficial to and necessary for the...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - August 5, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Road Injuries Associated With Cellular Phone Use While Walking or Riding a Bicycle or an Electric Bicycle: A Case-Crossover Study
AbstractVulnerable road users (pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists) account for an increasing proportion of traffic injuries. We used a case-crossover study design to examine the association between cell-phone usage and traffic injuries among pedestrians, bicyclists, and electric bicycle riders during the course of their travel. We studied 643 pedestrians, bike riders, and electric bike riders aged 10 –35 years who were involved in a road injury, visited the emergency department in one of the 3 hospitals in Shanghai, China, in 2019, and owned a cell phone. Half of the participants (n = 323; 50.2%) had used a cel...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - July 31, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Evidence for Increased Susceptibility to Breast Cancer From Exposure to Ionizing Radiation Due to a Familial History of Breast Cancer: Results From the Swedish Hemangioma Cohort
AbstractWomen with a history of breast cancer among family members are at increased risk for breast cancer. However, it is unknown whether a familial breast cancer history (FBCH) also increases individual susceptibility to breast cancer from radiation exposure. In this cohort study, 17,200 female Swedish hemangioma patients with 1,079 breast cancer cases diagnosed between 1958 and 2013, exposed to 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...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - July 31, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Individual and Neighborhood Factors Associated With Failure to Vaccinate Against Influenza During Pregnancy
In conclusion, unvaccinated pregnant women were clustered geographically and by key sociodemographic factors. These findings suggest that interventions to increase influenza vaccine coverage among pregnant women are needed, particularly in vulnerable populations. (Source: American Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - July 31, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Editorial: Demystifying the Placebo Effect
Placebo effects are a tantalizing concept that have captured public attention since at least 1955, when Henry Beecher (1) cataloged evidence across 15 large studies (totaln = 1,082 patients) and concluded that 35.5.% (±2.2%) of individuals “respond” to placebo. The results presented by Beecher seem plausible at first read. The goal of placebos in medical research is often described as “to distinguish pharmacological effects from the effects of suggestion … and to obtain an unbiased assessment of the result of experiment” (1, p. 1602). Inherent in this goal is a claim that all medical interventions might have s...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - July 28, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
