Vanyukov Michael M, Kirisci Levent, Tarter Ralph E, Simkevitz Howard F, Kirillova Galina P, Maher Brion S, Clark Duncan B
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research, University of Pittsburgh, 707 Salk Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2003 Oct;27(6):517-26. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2003.08.003.
Liabilities to complex disorders, discussed in the accompanying paper, present difficulties in measurement related to the arbitrariness of diagnostic threshold definitions and problems with discrimination between trait values, especially within the 'normal' individuals. The inability to quantitatively estimate the risk for a disorder, such as substance use disorders (SUD), is an obstacle for studying etiological (e.g. genetic) mechanisms and developing efficient prevention and treatment measures. Based on the concept of common liability to SUD, this paper delineates an application of the longitudinal family/high-risk design and item response theory to the development of a continuous index of liability. The method has been tested in both simulation study and empirical data. The approach described affords the opportunity to quantitatively estimate the risk for SUD at an early age and before any drug exposure. This method is also applicable to measuring liabilities to other complex disorders, especially those with relatively late onset.
随附论文中讨论的复杂疾病易感性，在测量方面存在困难，这与诊断阈值定义的随意性以及特征值区分问题有关，尤其是在“正常”个体中。无法对诸如物质使用障碍（SUD）等疾病的风险进行定量估计，是研究病因（如遗传）机制以及制定有效预防和治疗措施的障碍。基于SUD共同易感性的概念，本文阐述了纵向家庭/高危设计和项目反应理论在开发连续易感性指数中的应用。该方法已在模拟研究和实证数据中进行了测试。所描述的方法提供了在早年和任何药物暴露之前定量估计SUD风险的机会。该方法也适用于测量其他复杂疾病的易感性，尤其是那些发病较晚的疾病。
