Annals of Epidemiology

Our medical research library holds 6 studies published in Annals of Epidemiology (2004–2017). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 6 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it.

About the journal

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Published: 1990 to the present, United States
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1047-2797 (print), 1873-2585 (electronic)
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• Disease mapping of zero-excessive mesothelioma data in Flanders. T. Neyens, A.B. Lawson, R.S. Kirby, et al. 2017;27(1):59-66.e3. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Purpose: To investigate the distribution of mesothelioma in Flanders using Bayesian disease mapping models that account for both an excess of zeros and overdispersion.

  Methods: The numbers of newly diagnosed mesothelioma cases within all Flemish municipalities between 1999 and 2008 were obtained from the Belgian Cancer Registry. To deal with overdispersion, zero inflation, and geographical association, the hurdle combined model was proposed, which has three components: a Bernoulli zero-inflation mixture component to account for excess zeros, a gamma random effect to adjust for overdispersion, and a normal conditional autoregressive random effect to attribute spatial association. This model was compared with other existing methods in literature.

  Results: The results indicate that hurdle models with a random effects term accounting for extra variance in the Bernoulli zero-inflation component fit the data better than hurdle models that do not take overdispersion in the occurrence of zeros into account. Furthermore, traditional models that do not take into account excessive zeros but contain at least one random effects term that models extra variance in the counts have better fits compared to their hurdle counterparts. In other words, the extra variability, due to an excess of zeros, can be accommodated by spatially structured and/or unstructured random effects in a Poisson model such that the hurdle mixture model is not necessary.

  Conclusions: Models taking into account zero inflation do not always provide better fits to data with excessive zeros than less complex models. In this study, a simple conditional autoregressive model identified a cluster in mesothelioma cases near a former asbestos processing plant (Kapelle-op-den-Bos). This observation is likely linked with historical local asbestos exposures. Future research will clarify this.

  Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Epidemiology of mesothelioma of the pericardium and tunica vaginalis testis. G. Mezei, E.T. Chang, F.S. Mowat, et al. 2017;27(5):348-359.e11. Systematic review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Purpose: Malignant mesothelioma most commonly arises in the pleura and peritoneum but also occurs rarely at other anatomical sites with mesothelial tissue, namely, the pericardium and tunica vaginalis testis (TVT). This review provides a better understanding of the epidemiology of mesothelioma of these extrapleural sites.

  Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the epidemiologic and clinical literature on pericardial mesothelioma and mesothelioma of the TVT. We also analyzed U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry data to describe incidence patterns of these malignancies.

  Results: An etiologic role of asbestos exposure has been hypothesized for pericardial and TVT mesotheliomas, but no analytical case-control epidemiologic studies exist to test this relationship. A substantial proportion of cases with these malignancies report no known asbestos exposure. In large occupational cohorts with heavy asbestos exposures, no cases of pericardial or TVT mesothelioma have been reported. Trends in the incidence of these malignancies do not match those of pleural mesothelioma, which correspond to historical trends of commercial asbestos use. A male preponderance of pericardial mesothelioma is not evident.

  Conclusions: In the absence of analytic epidemiologic studies, the etiologic role of environmental risk factors for mesothelioma of the pericardium and TVT remains elusive.

  Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Cancer incidence among Minnesota taconite mining industry workers. E.M. Allen, B.H. Alexander, R.F. MacLehose, et al. 2015;25(11):811-5. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Purpose: To evaluate cancer incidence among Minnesota taconite mining workers.

  Methods: We evaluated cancer incidence between 1988 and 2010 in a cohort of 40,720 Minnesota taconite mining workers used between 1937 and 1983. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by comparing numbers of incident cancers with frequencies in the Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System. SIRs for lung cancer by histologic subtypes were also estimated. We adjusted for out-of-state migration and conducted a probabilistic bias analysis for smoking-related cancers.

  Results: A total of 5700 cancers were identified, including 51 mesotheliomas and 973 lung cancers. The SIRs for lung cancer and mesothelioma were 1.3 (95% CI = 1.2-1.4) and 2.4 (95% CI = 1.8-3.2), respectively. Stomach, laryngeal, and bladder cancers were also elevated. However, adjusting for potential confounding by smoking attenuated the estimates for lung (SIR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1.0-1.3), laryngeal (SIR = 1.2, 95% CI = 0.8-1.6), oral (SIR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.7-1.2), and bladder cancers (SIR = 1.0, 95% CI = 0.8-1.1).

  Conclusions: Taconite workers may have an increased risk for certain cancers. Lifestyle and work-related factors may play a role in elevated morbidity. The extent to which mining-related exposures contribute to disease burden is being investigated.

  Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Assessing the component associations of the healthy worker survivor bias: occupational asbestos exposure and lung cancer mortality. A.I. Naimi, S.R. Cole, M.G. Hudgens, et al. 2013;23(6):334-41. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: The healthy worker survivor bias is well-recognized in occupational epidemiology. Three component associations are necessary for this bias to occur: i) prior exposure and employment status; ii) employment status and subsequent exposure; and iii) employment status and mortality. Together, these associations result in time-varying confounding affected by prior exposure. We illustrate how these associations can be assessed using standard regression methods.

  Methods: We use data from 2975 asbestos textile factory workers hired between January 1940 and December 1965 and followed for lung cancer mortality through December 2001.

  Results: At entry, median age was 24 years, with 42% female and 19% non-Caucasian. Over follow-up, 21% and 17% of person-years were classified as at work and exposed to any asbestos, respectively. For a 100 fiber-year/mL increase in cumulative asbestos, the covariate-adjusted hazard of leaving work decreased by 52% (95% confidence interval [CI], 46-58). The association between employment status and subsequent asbestos exposure was strong due to nonpositivity: 88.3% of person-years at work (95% CI, 87.0-89.5) were classified as exposed to any asbestos; no person-years were classified as exposed to asbestos after leaving work. Finally, leaving active employment was associated with a 48% (95% CI, 9-71) decrease in the covariate-adjusted hazard of lung cancer mortality.

  Conclusions: We found strong associations for the components of the healthy worker survivor bias in these data. Standard methods, which fail to properly account for time-varying confounding affected by prior exposure, may provide biased estimates of the effect of asbestos on lung cancer mortality under these conditions.

  Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Mesothelioma from chrysotile asbestos: update. M.S. Kanarek. 2011;21(9):688-97. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Purpose: There are different mineral classes of asbestos, including serpentines and amphiboles. Chrysotile is the main type of serpentine and by far the most frequently used type of asbestos (about 95% of world production and use). There has been continuing controversy over the capability of chrysotile asbestos to cause pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. This review is to help clarify the issue by detailing cases and epidemiology studies worldwide where chrysotile is the exclusive or overwhelming fiber exposure.

  Methods: A worldwide literature review was conducted of asbestos and associated mesothelioma including case series, case-control and cohort epidemiology studies searching for well documented chrysotile asbestos associated mesothelioma cases.

  Results: Chrysotile asbestos exposures have occurred in many countries around the world from mining, manufacturing and community exposures. There have been many documented cases of mesothelioma from those exposures.

  Conclusions: Chrysotile asbestos, along with all other types of asbestos, has caused mesothelioma and a world-wide ban of all asbestos is warranted to stop an epidemic of mesothelioma.

  Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2000s

• Occupational asbestos exposure and the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract: an ecologic study. M.M. Treggiari, N.S. Weiss. 2004;14(3):168-71. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Purpose: A previous case-control study observed a strong association between occupational exposure to asbestos and the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract (GINHL). To test this hypothesis, we sought to determine whether the geographic pattern of the incidence of GINHL in the US has paralleled that of mesothelioma.

  Methods: Using data obtained from the nine US regions participating in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program, we examined the incidence of malignancies among men ages 50 to 84 years between 1973 and 1984.

  Results: The rates of mesothelioma, but not of GINHL, were about two times higher in the areas of Seattle and San Francisco, than in the other regions. Overall, there was no correlation between the rates of mesothelioma and of GIHNL (Pearson correlation coefficient-0.12, p = 0.77).

  Conclusions: This ecologic study finds no support for the hypothesis that occupational asbestos exposure is related to the subsequent incidence of GINHL.

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