Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Fei Wan, Graham A. Colditz, Siobhan Sutcliffe
Summary: This study compared different analytical methods in matched case-control studies and found that CLR is unbiased in exact matching, while unadjusted CLR tends to be biased in nonexact matching, but bias can be alleviated by spline smoothing of matching variables. Adjusted ULR generally has biases and is sensitive to model specification errors, highlighting the importance of using CLR as the primary analytical approach.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Mohammad Ali Mansournia, Charles Poole
Summary: Matching by a confounder in a case-control study often leads to control-selection bias and net bias, which can be affected by the direction and magnitude of the confounding. Previous assumptions that matching for a single confounder is sufficient to remove all confounding and that associations are monotonic have been challenged. It is now understood that the implications of matching by confounders in case-control studies are more complex and require further methodological research.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Almut G. Winterstein, Vera Ehrenstein, Jeffrey S. Brown, Til Stuermer, Meredith Y. Smith
Summary: The acceptance of real-world evidence (RWE) in decision-making has led to a growth in RWE studies on diabetes and other diseases. However, recent retractions have shown the need for improvements in research conduct, peer review, and editorial processes. To enhance RWE study assessments, the authors propose the use of reporting guidelines, availability of study protocols, inclusion of experts, and detailed data information.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Freya Tyrer, Krishnan Bhaskaran, Mark J. Rutherford
Summary: This study investigated immortal time bias for a specific life-long condition, intellectual disability, using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The results show that immortal time bias is a significant issue for studies of life-long conditions that use electronic health record data and careful consideration of clinical diagnoses entry is needed.
BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Benjamin Clarsen, Jens Christoffer Skogen, Thomas Sevenius Nilsen, Leif Edvard Aaro
Summary: The study found a mild continuum of resistance for demographic variables, but this was not reflected in health outcomes, which were uniformly similar across waves. The continuum of resistance model is unlikely to be useful for adjusting non-response bias in large online surveys of population health.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Timothy L. Lash, Thomas P. Ahern, Lindsay J. Collin, Matthew P. Fox, Richard F. MacLehose
Summary: The importance of bias analysis in epidemiologic research is highlighted in the text, with a mention of the lack of quantitative estimates of bias impacts in reports despite the availability of methods and tools. Three suboptimal bias analysis examples are identified, and common shortcomings in these examples are summarized.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Flavia Ismael, Beatriz Zaramella, Tatiane Battagin, Joao C. S. Bizario, Julia Gallego, Victoria Villela, Lilian Bezerra de Queiroz, Fabio E. Leal, Julio Torales, Antonio Ventriglio, Megan E. Marziali, Priscila D. Goncalves, Silvia S. Martins, Joao M. Castaldelli-Maia
Summary: This study did not find specific associations between substance use and COVID-19 symptomatology in patients with mild cases. Alcohol and tobacco use decreased in the acute phase of the disease but showed different patterns in the follow-up period. Monitoring substance use in post-COVID-19 period and implementing preventive interventions for non-medical analgesic use are recommended.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Han-Ming Liu, Jin-Ping Zheng, Dan Yang, Zhao-Fa Liu, Zi Li, Zhen-Zhen Hu, Ze-Nan Li
Summary: The study indicates that a recessive/dominant model may be more effective than the additive model in case-control-based genome-wide association studies. Through experiments, it was shown that the recessive model has better accuracy and area under the curve compared to the additive model, suggesting a new direction for research.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Zhao Yang, C. Mary Schooling, Man Ki Kwok
Summary: The study highlights the importance of selection bias in Mendelian randomization studies, proposing the use of control exposures to validate estimated causal effects. It demonstrates the potential impact of selection bias on genetic instrument-outcome associations, leading to distorted Mendelian randomization estimates.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Michael D. Garber, Lauren E. McCullough, Stephen J. Mooney, Michael R. Kramer, Kari E. Watkins, R. L. Felipe Lobelo, W. Dana Flanders
Summary: Measuring transient exposures in epidemiologic studies can be challenging, but a new method called at-risk-measure sampling offers a potential improvement by sampling the measure of at-risk experience rather than individuals or locations.
Article
Biology
Lu Wang, Jill Schnall, Aeron Small, Rebecca A. Hubbard, Jason H. Moore, Scott M. Damrauer, Jinbo Chen
Summary: Clinically relevant information from electronic health records allows for derivation of diverse phenotypes, but challenges arise from case contamination. An estimating equation approach is proposed for bias correction and has shown promising results in simulation studies and pilot applications.
Article
Statistics & Probability
Kendrick Qijun Li, Xu Shi, Wang Miao, Eric Tchetgen Tchetgen
Summary: The test-negative design (TND) is widely used to evaluate vaccine effectiveness against infectious diseases in real-world settings. However, it is subject to potential biases such as residual confounding and collider stratification bias. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to address these biases by leveraging negative control variables in TND studies. The proposed method is illustrated with simulations and a real-world application to study COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION
(2023)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Julie M. Petersen, Lynsie R. Ranker, Ruby Barnard-Mayers, Richard F. MacLehose, Matthew P. Fox
Summary: QBA applications in epidemiological research were rare but increasing over time. Most studies used QBA as secondary analyses to conventional methods or to assess the extent of bias. Common types of biases included misclassification, uncontrolled confounders, and selection bias. Many studies did not consider multiple biases or correlations between errors.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Hematology
Pamela L. Lutsey
Summary: The case-control design is an observational study design that compares the exposure prevalence between individuals with and without disease. Proper control selection is crucial for case-control study design, and optimizing control selection can maximize causal inference and enhance the scientific rigor of hematologic case-control studies.
RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Andrew Ratanatharathorn, Stephen J. Mooney, Benjamin A. Rybicki, Andrew G. Rundle
Summary: Individual matching in case-control studies improves statistical efficiency, but strict matching criteria can lead to selection bias. This study introduces flex matching, an algorithm that selects controls for cases using multiple rounds of control selection with successively relaxed matching criteria. The results show that flex matching produces the least biased estimates with the smallest standard errors, making it a valuable approach in case-control designs.
ANNALS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Letter
Respiratory System
Maria Estrella Lopez-Pardo, Cristina Candal-Represas, Luis Valdes-Cuadrado, Cristina Represas-Represas, Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Monica Perez-Rios
ARCHIVOS DE BRONCONEUMOLOGIA
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Orlando Acosta, David Diaz Perez, Ciro Casanova, Valle Velasco, German Peces-Barba, Esther Barreiro, Ana Canas, Argelia Castano, Maria Jesus Cruz Carmona, Carmen Diego, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Cristina Martinez, Maria Molina-Molina, Xavier Munoz, Francisco Javier Sanchez-Inigo, Cristina Candal-Pedreira
Summary: This study aims to assess the short-, medium-, and long-term respiratory health effects of exposure to volcanic emissions from the eruption in different population groups. The study will employ multiple designs, including a cohort study on the general population, highly exposed population, and childhood population, as well as a pre-post quasi-experimental study on subjects with previously diagnosed respiratory diseases. Information will be collected through personal interviews, biologic specimens, air pollution data, and medical records, among other methods, with a planned follow-up of five years.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Letter
Health Care Sciences & Services
Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Monica Perez-Rios, Julia Rey-Brandariz, Cristina Candal-Pedreira
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nerea Mourino, Monica Perez-Rios, Kimberly Yolton, Bruce P. Lanphear, Aimin Chen, Jessie P. Buckley, Heidi J. Kalkwarf, Kim M. Cecil, Joseph M. Braun
Summary: This study found that postnatal serum cotinine concentrations had a greater influence on adolescent's cardiometabolic risk compared to the prenatal period, and these associations may be sex-specific.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Joseph S. Ross, Ana Marusic, Alberto Ruano-Ravina
Summary: Research misconduct refers to unethical practices in research and publication, leading to article retractions and public scepticism. A joint effort by the scientific community, academic institutions, journals, and funders is needed to identify and prevent research misconduct. This paper evaluates current efforts and proposes actions for academic institutions and scientific journals, emphasizing the need for a larger multistakeholder approach.
JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH
(2023)
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Carlota Rodriguez Garcia, Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Monica Perez Rios, Lucia Martin Gisbert, Leonor Varela-Lema, Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Cristina Represas-Represas, Julia Rey-Brandariz, Luis Valdes-Cuadradoa, Alvar Agusti
Summary: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide. While smoking is a major risk factor, COPD also occurs in individuals who have never smoked (NS). However, there is limited evidence on the risk factors, clinical characteristics, and natural history of COPD in NS. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap through a systematic review of the literature.
RESPIRATORY MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Substance Abuse
Carla Guerra-Tort, Esther Lopez-Vizcaino, Maria I. Santiago-Perez, Julia Rey-Brandariz, Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Leonor Varela-Lema, Anna Schiaffino, Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Monica Perez-Rios
Summary: This study aimed to validate a small-area model for estimating smoking prevalence. The results showed that the small-area model applied to national survey data accurately estimated smoking prevalence by sex and age group, enabling the study of risk factors at a subnational level.
TOBACCO INDUCED DISEASES
(2023)
Review
Oncology
Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Lucia Martin-Gisbert, Karl Kelsey, Monica Perez-Rios, Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Julia Rey-Brandariz, Leonor Varela-Lema
Summary: The aim of this study is to provide an overview of research on indoor radon and lung cancer, with a focus on Spanish investigations. Early studies established the link between radon and lung cancer, and later case-control studies confirmed this association in the general population. Spain has contributed extensive evidence, including multiple studies exploring various aspects such as the effect of radon on never-smokers, molecular pathways, survival rates, mortality burden, and occupational exposure. The causal association between radon and lung cancer is well-established, but further research is needed to understand the potential molecular pathways and other health effects.
CLINICAL & TRANSLATIONAL ONCOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Substance Abuse
Julia Rey-Brandariz, Monica Perez-Rios, Maria Isolina Santiago-Perez, Leonor Varela-Lema, Alexandra Giraldo-Osorio, Nerea Mourino, Alberto Ruano-Ravina
Summary: The objective of this study is to identify and describe published studies that have estimated smoking-attributable mortality (SAM) in Spain. A search in PubMed and EMBASE databases was conducted, resulting in 22 eligible studies out of 146 identified. SAM estimates were found at national, regional, provincial, and city levels. Most estimates focused on adults aged over 34, categorized as smokers, ex-smokers, and never smokers. The burden of SAM showed a decrease over the analyzed period. Regular periodic estimates at both global and regional levels would be necessary to accurately monitor the tobacco epidemic in Spain.
Article
Respiratory System
Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Virginia Calvo de Juan, Manuel Cobo, Jose Manuel Trigo, Enric Carcereny, Marc Cucurull, Rafael Lopez Castro, Eduardo Solis Garcia, Amparo Sanchez-Gastaldo, Bartomeu Massuti, Delvys Rodriguez-Abreu, Anna Estival, Maria Guirado Risueno, Maria Pamies Ramon, Rosario Garcia Campelo, Guillermo Alonso-Jaudenes, Carlos Camps, Edel del Barco Morillo, Clara Gonzalez Ojea, Manuel Domine, Alfredo Sanchez-Hernandez, Joaquim Bosch-Barrera, Maria Angeles Sala Gonzalez, Mariano Provencio
Summary: Over one-third of lung cancer cases in Spain cannot be detected through screening due to not meeting the most recent inclusion criteria. The degree of fulfilment in a potential nationwide screening programme should be analyzed, with the aim of establishing inclusion criteria in line with each country's context.
Article
Medical Ethics
Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Ali Ghaddar, Monica Perez-Rios, Leonor Varela-Lema, Carlos Alvarez-Dardet, Alberto Ruano-Ravina
Summary: This study examines the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of Spanish researchers regarding scientific misconduct in the field of biomedicine. The results show a high frequency of scientific misconduct among Spanish biomedical researchers, with 43.3% admitting to engaging in some form of misconduct. False authorship is the most common type of misconduct. There are variations in the types of misconduct based on gender and the type of research institution.
ACCOUNTABILITY IN RESEARCH-ETHICS INTEGRITY AND POLICY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lucia Martin-Gisbert, Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Marta Garcia-Talavera San Miguel, Monica Perez-Rios, Juan Barros-Dios, Leonor Varela-Lema, Alberto Ruano-Ravina
Summary: The study aimed to describe workplace radon exposure in Spain and its influencing factors. The results showed that approximately one-fifth of workplaces in radon prone areas had radon concentrations above the standard limit of 300 Bq/m3. Radon concentration varied significantly by floor level, working sector, and location. The highest radon concentrations were found in the Education & Culture sector.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
