Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100077
Julie E. Goodman , Rebecca C. Ticknor , Jean Zhou
We conducted a systematic review of epidemiology studies that evaluated the association between perchloroethylene (PCE) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This included an independent detailed assessment of a few critical aspects of study quality (i.e., study design, exposure measurement, exposure levels, and potential confounding), and a consideration of other aspects of quality less formally. Of the identified 18 cohort studies of 15 unique cohorts, 17 case-control studies of 14 unique population groups, and 3 ecological studies, none was high quality for all four critical quality elements and each study also had other major methodological study limitations. Reported risk estimates were mostly null, ranged widely from below to above 1, and often had extremely wide confidence intervals (CIs), indicating unstable risk estimates. In addition, there was no consistent evidence of dose-response. Overall, given the low quality of the available epidemiology studies, the evidence does not support an association between PCE exposure and NHL.
{"title":"Systematic review of perchloroethylene and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma","authors":"Julie E. Goodman , Rebecca C. Ticknor , Jean Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100077","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100077","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We conducted a systematic review of epidemiology studies that evaluated the association between perchloroethylene (PCE) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This included an independent detailed assessment of a few critical aspects of study quality (i.e., study design, exposure measurement, exposure levels, and potential confounding), and a consideration of other aspects of quality less formally. Of the identified 18 cohort studies of 15 unique cohorts, 17 case-control studies of 14 unique population groups, and 3 ecological studies, none was high quality for all four critical quality elements and each study also had other major methodological study limitations. Reported risk estimates were mostly null, ranged widely from below to above 1, and often had extremely wide confidence intervals (CIs), indicating unstable risk estimates. In addition, there was no consistent evidence of dose-response. Overall, given the low quality of the available epidemiology studies, the evidence does not support an association between PCE exposure and NHL.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/a7/b3/main.PMC10446115.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10110048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100079
Xi Wang , Nora L. Lee , Igor Burstyn
Introduction
The US experienced a surge in use of e-cigarettes. Smoking women may consider e-cigarettes during pregnancy as an alternative to smoking. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, an established cause of reduction in fetal growth in animal studies.
Methods
This cohort study included 99,201 mothers who delivered live singletons in 2016–2018 from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. We created exposure categories based on self-reported number of cigarettes smoked per day and vaping frequency and evaluated their associations with preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth (two established cigarette smoking-related risks).
Results
Dual users in late pregnancy were a heterogeneous group: 29% lightly smoked and occasionally vaped; 19% lightly smoked and frequently vaped; 36% heavily smoked and occasionally vaped; and 15% heavily smoked and frequently vaped. While dual users who heavily smoked and occasionally vaped had the highest adjusted OR for SGA (3.4, 95% CI 2.0, 5.7), all the dual users had, on average, about twice the odds of having SGA than non-users. While the risks of preterm birth were higher among sole light smokers (adjusted OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1, 1.5) and sole heavy smokers (adjusted OR 1.5. 95% CI 1.2, 1.8) than non-users, the adjusted odds of preterm birth for dual users were not noticeably higher than those of non-users.
Conclusion
Relative to non-users, both smoking and vaping during pregnancy appear to increase risk of SGA, but excess risk of preterm birth appears to be primarily attributable to smoking alone. Higher levels of exposure tended to confer more risk.
美国电子烟的使用量激增。吸烟的女性可能会考虑在怀孕期间使用电子烟作为吸烟的替代品。电子烟通常含有尼古丁,这是动物研究中确定的导致胎儿生长减慢的原因。方法本队列研究纳入2016-2018年妊娠风险评估监测系统中99201例活产单胎母亲。我们根据自我报告的每天吸烟数量和吸电子烟的频率创建了暴露类别,并评估了它们与早产和小胎龄(SGA)出生(两种已确定的吸烟相关风险)的关系。结果妊娠后期的双重使用者是一个异质组:29%轻度吸烟,偶尔吸;19%轻度吸烟并经常吸电子烟;36%的人重度吸烟,偶尔吸电子烟;15%的人重度吸烟并经常吸电子烟。虽然重度吸烟和偶尔吸电子烟的双重使用者的SGA调整OR最高(3.4,95% CI 2.0, 5.7),但所有双重使用者患SGA的几率平均是非使用者的两倍左右。而单独轻度吸烟者(调整后的比值为1.3,95% CI为1.1,1.5)和单独重度吸烟者(调整后的比值为1.5)的早产风险更高。95% CI 1.2, 1.8),双重使用者的早产调整几率并不明显高于非使用者。结论与非使用者相比,怀孕期间吸烟和吸电子烟都增加了SGA的风险,但早产风险过高似乎主要归因于吸烟本身。较高的暴露水平往往会带来更多的风险。
{"title":"Exposure-response analysis of the association of maternal smoking and use of electronic cigarettes (vaping) in relation to preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age in a national US sample, 2016–2018","authors":"Xi Wang , Nora L. Lee , Igor Burstyn","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100079","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100079","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>The US experienced a surge in use of e-cigarettes. Smoking women may consider e-cigarettes during pregnancy as an alternative to smoking. <em>E</em>-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, an established cause of reduction in fetal growth in animal studies.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>This cohort study included 99,201 mothers who delivered live singletons in 2016–2018 from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. We created exposure categories based on self-reported number of cigarettes smoked per day and vaping frequency and evaluated their associations with preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth (two established cigarette smoking-related risks).</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Dual users in late pregnancy were a heterogeneous group: 29% lightly smoked and occasionally vaped; 19% lightly smoked and frequently vaped; 36% heavily smoked and occasionally vaped; and 15% heavily smoked and frequently vaped. While dual users who heavily smoked and occasionally vaped had the highest adjusted OR for SGA (3.4, 95% CI 2.0, 5.7), all the dual users had, on average, about twice the odds of having SGA than non-users. While the risks of preterm birth were higher among sole light smokers (adjusted OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1, 1.5) and sole heavy smokers (adjusted OR 1.5. 95% CI 1.2, 1.8) than non-users, the adjusted odds of preterm birth for dual users were not noticeably higher than those of non-users.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Relative to non-users, both smoking and vaping during pregnancy appear to increase risk of SGA, but excess risk of preterm birth appears to be primarily attributable to smoking alone. Higher levels of exposure tended to confer more risk.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/06/e9/main.PMC10446111.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10464631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100085
Mohammad Ali Mansournia , Maryam Nazemipour , Mahyar Etminan
Misinterpretations of P-values and 95% confidence intervals are ubiquitous in medical research. Specifically, the terms significance or confidence, extensively used in medical papers, ignore biases and violations of statistical assumptions and hence should be called overconfidence terms. In this paper, we present the compatibility view of P-values and confidence intervals; the P-value is interpreted as an index of compatibility between data and the model, including the test hypothesis and background assumptions, whereas a confidence interval is interpreted as the range of parameter values that are compatible with the data under background assumptions. We also suggest the use of a surprisal measure, often referred to as the S-value, a novel metric that transforms the P-value, for gauging compatibility in terms of an intuitive experiment of coin tossing.
{"title":"P-value, compatibility, and S-value","authors":"Mohammad Ali Mansournia , Maryam Nazemipour , Mahyar Etminan","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100085","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Misinterpretations of <em>P</em>-values and 95% confidence intervals are ubiquitous in medical research. Specifically, the terms significance or confidence, extensively used in medical papers, ignore biases and violations of statistical assumptions and hence should be called overconfidence terms. In this paper, we present the compatibility view of <em>P</em>-values and confidence intervals; the P-value is interpreted as an index of compatibility between data and the model, including the test hypothesis and background assumptions, whereas a confidence interval is interpreted as the range of parameter values that are compatible with the data under background assumptions. We also suggest the use of a surprisal measure, often referred to as the S-value, a novel metric that transforms the <em>P</em>-value, for gauging compatibility in terms of an intuitive experiment of coin tossing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590113322000153/pdfft?md5=27822b5f645a8dec8e6255a6d7b007e5&pid=1-s2.0-S2590113322000153-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92013291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100074
Alex Broadbent PhD , Pieter Streicher PhD
The initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic was characterised by swift “lockdowns,” a cluster of measures defined by a shared goal of suppressing Covid-19 and a shared character of restricting departure from the home except for specific purposes. By mid-April 2020, most countries were implementing stringent measures of this kind. This essay contends that (1) some epidemiologists played a central role in formulating and promulgating lockdown as a policy and (2) lockdowns were foreseeably harmful to the Global Poor, and foreseeably offered them little benefit, relative to less stringent measures. In view of the widespread commitment to reducing global health inequalities within the profession, this should prompt reflection within the epidemiological community and further work on pandemic response measures more appropriate for the Global Poor.
{"title":"Can you lock down in a slum? And who would benefit if you tried? Difficult questions about epidemiology's commitment to global health inequalities during Covid-19","authors":"Alex Broadbent PhD , Pieter Streicher PhD","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100074","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100074","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic was characterised by swift “lockdowns,” a cluster of measures defined by a shared goal of suppressing Covid-19 and a shared character of restricting departure from the home except for specific purposes. By mid-April 2020, most countries were implementing stringent measures of this kind. This essay contends that (1) some epidemiologists played a central role in formulating and promulgating lockdown as a policy and (2) lockdowns were foreseeably harmful to the Global Poor, and foreseeably offered them little benefit, relative to less stringent measures. In view of the widespread commitment to reducing global health inequalities within the profession, this should prompt reflection within the epidemiological community and further work on pandemic response measures more appropriate for the Global Poor.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/05/06/main.PMC9125993.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10069593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100091
Julie E. Goodman, Rebecca C. Ticknor, Jean Zhou
{"title":"Response: Alternative approaches for systematic review","authors":"Julie E. Goodman, Rebecca C. Ticknor, Jean Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100091","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100091","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/03/82/main.PMC10445956.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10164002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100089
David A. Savitz
{"title":"Commentary on Methodologic choices in synthesizing epidemiologic evidence to assess perchloroethylene and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma","authors":"David A. Savitz","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100089","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100089","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/39/dd/main.PMC10445977.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10164006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100078
Aage Tverdal , Randi Selmer , Dag S. Thelle
Purpose
The association between alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer is unsettled.
Methods
Altogether 243,169 men and women 20–79 years, without cancer at baseline, were followed with respect to pancreatic cancer by linkage to the Cancer Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. They participated in a cardiovascular survey where information on alcohol consumption, smoking habits, anthropometric measures, and some biological variables were recorded. During 20 years of follow-up, 991 incident pancreatic cancers were registered. We estimated the hazard ratios with the Cox proportional hazards model, and graphed spline curves between glass-units/d of alcohol and hazard ratio of incident pancreatic cancer.
Results
The multivariable adjusted hazard per 1 glass-unit/d was 1.08 (95% confidence interval 1.02–1.15) for men and 1.04 (0.97–1.13) for women. The association between alcohol consumption and incident pancreatic cancer was present in ex- and current smokers, but the association could be ascribed to smoking habits. The multivariable adjusted spline curves increased with increasing glass-units/d and with confidence bands not encompassing 1.0 above one glass-unit/day.
Conclusion
Our findings of an association between higher level of alcohol consumption and incident pancreatic cancer, could be attributed to confounding by smoking habits.
{"title":"Alcohol consumption and incidence of pancreatic cancer","authors":"Aage Tverdal , Randi Selmer , Dag S. Thelle","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100078","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100078","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><p>The association between alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer is unsettled.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Altogether 243,169 men and women 20–79 years, without cancer at baseline, were followed with respect to pancreatic cancer by linkage to the Cancer Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. They participated in a cardiovascular survey where information on alcohol consumption, smoking habits, anthropometric measures, and some biological variables were recorded. During 20 years of follow-up, 991 incident pancreatic cancers were registered. We estimated the hazard ratios with the Cox proportional hazards model, and graphed spline curves between glass-units/d of alcohol and hazard ratio of incident pancreatic cancer.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The multivariable adjusted hazard per 1 glass-unit/d was 1.08 (95% confidence interval 1.02–1.15) for men and 1.04 (0.97–1.13) for women. The association between alcohol consumption and incident pancreatic cancer was present in ex- and current smokers, but the association could be ascribed to smoking habits. The multivariable adjusted spline curves increased with increasing glass-units/d and with confidence bands not encompassing 1.0 above one glass-unit/day.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Our findings of an association between higher level of alcohol consumption and incident pancreatic cancer, could be attributed to confounding by smoking habits.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/f3/cd/main.PMC10446112.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10164003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100094
Marcelo Eduardo Borges , Leonardo Souto Ferreira , Silas Poloni , Angela Maria Bagattini , Caroline Franco , Michelle Quarti Machado da Rosa , Lorena Mendes Simon , Suzi Alves Camey , Ricardo de Souza Kuchenbecker , Paulo Inácio Prado , José Alexandre Felizola Diniz-Filho , Roberto André Kraenkel , Renato Mendes Coutinho , Cristiana Maria Toscano
We simulate the impact of school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic in three major urban centers in Brazil to identify the epidemiological indicators and the best timing for the return of in-school activities and the effect of contact tracing as a mitigation measure. Our goal is to offer guidelines for evidence-based policymaking. We implement an extended SEIR model stratified by age and considering contact networks in different settings – school, home, work, and community, in which the infection transmission rate is affected by various intervention measures. After fitting epidemiological and demographic data, we simulate scenarios with increasing school transmission due to school reopening, and also estimate the number of hospitalization and deaths averted by the implementation of contact tracing. Reopening schools results in a non-linear increase in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths, which is highly dependent on infection and disease incidence at the time of reopening. When contact tracing and quarantining are restricted to school and home settings, a large number of daily tests is required to produce significant effects in reducing the total number of hospitalizations and deaths. Policymakers should carefully consider the epidemiological context and timing regarding the implementation of school closure and return of in-person school activities. While contact tracing strategies prevent new infections within school environments, they alone are not sufficient to avoid significant impacts on community transmission.
{"title":"Modelling the impact of school reopening and contact tracing strategies on Covid-19 dynamics in different epidemiologic settings in Brazil","authors":"Marcelo Eduardo Borges , Leonardo Souto Ferreira , Silas Poloni , Angela Maria Bagattini , Caroline Franco , Michelle Quarti Machado da Rosa , Lorena Mendes Simon , Suzi Alves Camey , Ricardo de Souza Kuchenbecker , Paulo Inácio Prado , José Alexandre Felizola Diniz-Filho , Roberto André Kraenkel , Renato Mendes Coutinho , Cristiana Maria Toscano","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100094","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100094","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We simulate the impact of school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic in three major urban centers in Brazil to identify the epidemiological indicators and the best timing for the return of in-school activities and the effect of contact tracing as a mitigation measure. Our goal is to offer guidelines for evidence-based policymaking. We implement an extended SEIR model stratified by age and considering contact networks in different settings – school, home, work, and community, in which the infection transmission rate is affected by various intervention measures. After fitting epidemiological and demographic data, we simulate scenarios with increasing school transmission due to school reopening, and also estimate the number of hospitalization and deaths averted by the implementation of contact tracing. Reopening schools results in a non-linear increase in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths, which is highly dependent on infection and disease incidence at the time of reopening. When contact tracing and quarantining are restricted to school and home settings, a large number of daily tests is required to produce significant effects in reducing the total number of hospitalizations and deaths. Policymakers should carefully consider the epidemiological context and timing regarding the implementation of school closure and return of in-person school activities. While contact tracing strategies prevent new infections within school environments, they alone are not sufficient to avoid significant impacts on community transmission.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9652103/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40697703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100093
Heather N. Lynch , Kenneth A. Mundt , Dirk Pallapies , Paolo F. Ricci
Systematic review has become the preferred approach to addressing causality and informing regulatory and other decision-making processes, including chemical risk assessments. While advocates of systematic reviews acknowledge that they hold great potential for increasing objectivity and transparency in assessments of chemicals and human health risks, standardizing and harmonizing systematic review methods have been challenging. This review provides a brief summary of the development of systematic review methods and some of the frameworks currently in use in the US and Europe. We also provide an in-depth evaluation and comparison of two “competing” US EPA systematic review frameworks, informed by the constructively critical recommendations from the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. We conclude with suggestions for moving forward to harmonize systematic review methods, as we believe that further criticism of individual available frameworks likely will be unproductive. Specifically, we issue a call to action for an international collaboration to work toward a blueprint that embraces the most scientifically critical elements common to most systematic review frameworks, while necessarily accommodating adaptations for specific purposes. Despite the array of available systematic review methods, it is clear that there is a shared goal and desire to promote objective assessment and synthesis of scientific evidence informing globally important issues regarding disease causality and human health risk evaluation.
{"title":"Lost in the woods: Finding our way back to the scientific method in systematic review","authors":"Heather N. Lynch , Kenneth A. Mundt , Dirk Pallapies , Paolo F. Ricci","doi":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100093","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloepi.2022.100093","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Systematic review has become the preferred approach to addressing causality and informing regulatory and other decision-making processes, including chemical risk assessments. While advocates of systematic reviews acknowledge that they hold great potential for increasing objectivity and transparency in assessments of chemicals and human health risks, standardizing and harmonizing systematic review methods have been challenging. This review provides a brief summary of the development of systematic review methods and some of the frameworks currently in use in the US and Europe. We also provide an in-depth evaluation and comparison of two “competing” US EPA systematic review frameworks, informed by the constructively critical recommendations from the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. We conclude with suggestions for moving forward to harmonize systematic review methods, as we believe that further criticism of individual available frameworks likely will be unproductive. Specifically, we issue a call to action for an international collaboration to work toward a blueprint that embraces the most scientifically critical elements common to most systematic review frameworks, while necessarily accommodating adaptations for specific purposes. Despite the array of available systematic review methods, it is clear that there is a shared goal and desire to promote objective assessment and synthesis of scientific evidence informing globally important issues regarding disease causality and human health risk evaluation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36311,"journal":{"name":"Global Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/6d/65/main.PMC10445984.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10164487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}