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Is the effect of Mediterranean diet on hip fracture mediated through type 2 diabetes mellitus and body mass index?
ConclusionsMediterranean diet has a direct effect on hip fracture risk via pathways other than through T2DM and BMI. We cannot exclude mediating effects of T2DM or BMI, or that their effects cancel each other out. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 25, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Educational note: addressing special cases of bias that frequently occur in perinatal epidemiology
AbstractThe epidemiologic study of pregnancy and birth outcomes may be hindered by several unique and challenging issues. Pregnancy is a time-limited period in which severe cohort attrition takes place between conception and birth and adverse outcomes are complex and multi-factorial. Biases span those familiar to epidemiologists: selection, confounding and information biases. Specific challenges include conditioning on potential intermediates, how to treat race/ethnicity, and influential windows of prolonged, seasonal and potentially time-varying exposures. Researchers studying perinatal outcomes should be cognizant of the...
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 25, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Estimating the lifetime risk of dementia using nationwide individually linked cause-of-death and health register data
ConclusionsAround one-fourth of the Dutch population is diagnosed with dementia at some point in life and dies in the presence of dementia. It is a major challenge to arrange optimal care for this group. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 23, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Epigenome-wide association study of diet quality in the Women ’s Health Initiative and TwinsUK cohort
ConclusionsDiet quality was associated with methylation at 24 CpG sites, several of which have been associated with adiposity, inflammation and dysglycaemia. These findings may provide insight into pathways through which diet influences chronic disease. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 23, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Comparison of smoking reduction with improvement of social conditions in early life: simulation in a British cohort
ConclusionsOur results highlight the potential value of targeting early social characteristics such as ACE and education, compared with well-recognized interventions on smoking. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 22, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Reflection on modern methods: demystifying robust standard errors for epidemiologists
AbstractAll statistical estimates from data have uncertainty due to sampling variability. A standard error is one measure of uncertainty of a sample estimate (such as the mean of a set of observations or a regression coefficient). Standard errors are usually calculated based on assumptions underpinning the statistical model used in the estimation. However, there are situations in which some assumptions of the statistical model including the variance or covariance of the outcome across observations are violated, which leads to biased standard errors. One simple remedy is to userobust standard errors, which are robust to vio...
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 22, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Swedish snus use is associated with mortality: a pooled analysis of eight prospective studies
ConclusionsSnus use among men is associated with increased all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, with death from other causes and possibly with increased cancer mortality. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 22, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Commentary: Climate change and health: the importance of experiments
The study by Naser and colleagues1 published in this issue of theInternational Journal of Epidemiology is important for at least three reasons. First, it confirms with an experimental design previous observations that linked increased blood pressure to increased salinity of drinking water in Bangladesh.2 –6 Second, it highlights concerns over the effectiveness of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) schemes as an alternative water resource. Third, it provides relevant information to organize a better policy response to the problem. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 21, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Heat-mortality risk and the population concentration of metropolitan areas in Japan: a nationwide time-series study
ConclusionsPopulation concentration in metropolitan areas intensified interregional disparities in demography, living environments, and medical services in Japan; these disparities were associated with higher heat-mortality risk. Our results can contribute to policies to reduce vulnerability to high temperatures. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 21, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Investigating the causal effect of maternal vitamin B12 and folate levels on offspring birthweight
ConclusionsOur results are consistent with evidence from randomized controlled trials that higher maternal folate levels increase offspring birthweight. We did not find evidence for a causal effect of B12 levels on offspring birthweight, suggesting previous observational studies may have been confounded. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 21, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Use of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to identify confounders in applied health research: review and recommendations
ConclusionThere is substantial variation in the use and reporting of DAGs in applied health research. Although this partly reflects their flexibility, it also highlights some potential areas for improvement. This review hence offers several recommendations to improve the reporting and use of DAGs in future research. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 17, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Commentary: Dairy milk intake and breast cancer risk: does an association exist, and what might be the culprit?
In this issue of theIJE, Fraseret al. report findings on soy and dairy milk intake in relation to breast cancer risk in the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2).1 The authors found that soy milk intake was not related to breast cancer risk, whereas higher dairy milk intake was related to a higher risk. This is a well-characterized cohort with a high proportion of vegetarians and vegans (around 36%), making it one of the best cohorts to assess the association between soy intake and breast cancer risk reliably in Western populations. Another related strength of this study is that around 8% of the cohort does not consume dairy mi...
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 17, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Erratum to: Cross-trait analyses with migraine reveal widespread pleiotropy and suggest a vascular component to migraine headache
The International Headache Genetics Consortium was omitted from the Author list and the list of additional authors and collborators was published as a supplementary file. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 17, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Cohort Profile: HABITAT —a longitudinal multilevel study of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health and functioning in mid-to-late adulthood
Cohortmultilevelphysical activitysedentary behaviourhealthfunction (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 15, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research