Field R W, Steck D J, Lynch C F, Brus C P, Neuberger J S, Kross B C
Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242-5000, USA.
J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 1996 Apr-Jun;6(2):181-95.
Although occupational epidemiological studies and animal experimentation provide strong evidence that radon-222 (222Rn) progeny exposure causes lung cancer, residential epidemiological studies have not confirmed this association. Past residential epidemiological studies have yielded contradictory findings. Exposure misclassification has seriously compromised the ability of these studies to detect whether an association exists between 222Rn exposure and lung cancer. Misclassification of 222Rn exposure has arisen primarily from: 1) detector measurement error; 2) failure to consider temporal and spatial 222Rn variations within a home; 3) missing data from previously occupied homes that currently are inaccessible; 4) failure to link 222Rn concentrations with subject mobility; and 5) measuring 222Rn gas concentration as a surrogate for 222Rn progeny exposure. This paper examines these methodological dosimetry problems and addresses how we are accounting for them in an ongoing, population-based, case-control study of 222Rn and lung cancer in Iowa.
尽管职业流行病学研究和动物实验提供了强有力的证据，证明接触氡-222（²²²Rn）子体可导致肺癌，但住宅流行病学研究尚未证实这种关联。过去的住宅流行病学研究得出了相互矛盾的结果。暴露误分类严重损害了这些研究检测²²²Rn暴露与肺癌之间是否存在关联的能力。²²²Rn暴露的误分类主要源于：1）探测器测量误差；2）未考虑家中²²²Rn的时间和空间变化；3）来自目前无法进入的先前居住房屋的缺失数据；4）未将²²²Rn浓度与受试者流动性联系起来；5）测量²²²Rn气体浓度作为²²²Rn子体暴露的替代指标。本文探讨了这些方法学剂量测定问题，并阐述了在爱荷华州正在进行的一项基于人群的²²²Rn与肺癌病例对照研究中，我们是如何处理这些问题的。
