Epidemiologic Biases in Asthma Studies of the 9/11 World Trade Center Attack: Disaster Epidemiology Needed

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baron, Sherry L. ; Cifuentes M ; Jurek AM ; Kim H ; Kriebel D ; Mongin S
• Description:
  Purpose: The unplanned and unexpected nature of man-made disasters creates challenges for epidemiologists. Methodological challenges from the World Trade Center (WTC) attack on September 11, 2001, include lack of well designed and timely epidemiologic studies and systems to perform long-term surveillance. As in all epidemiologic studies, these challenges may bias study results. Relatively little is known, however, about the effects of biases in WTC disaster studies. Methods: We reviewed 29 articles examining WTC disaster and asthma in responders and civilians and included 12 articles that calculated ratio effect measures. We identified biases mentioned in each article and their potential impact on study results. Results: Reporting (N=9, 75%) and self selection (N=7, 58%) biases were the main study limitations cited. Two articles mentioned that the target population might have been screened more frequently per WTC disaster exposure. Four papers stated the inability to verify selfreported conditions and four mentioned data limitations. Qualitative evaluation of bias was preferred over quantitative methods. Three articles stated exposure misclassification would underestimate study results, while outcome misclassification was unlikely to explain findings for three papers. No reviewed article conducted a quantitative bias analysis. Conclusions: We have identified biases present in epidemiologic studies of WTC disaster exposure and asthma. We will use quantitative bias analysis to evaluate the impact selection and misclassification biases have on reported ratio effect measures and provide recommendations for designing disaster studies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Emergency Responders Environmental Exposure Epidemiology Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  Bronchial Asthma Disaster Sites Emergency Responders Exposure Levels First Responders Statistical Analysis Surveillance Terrorism Terrorism Response World Trade Center WTC

  More +
• Publisher:
  Society for Epidemiologic Research
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; Massachusetts ; Minnesota ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051179
• Citation:
  Epidemiolog Congress of the Americas 2016, June 21-24, Miami, Florida. Clearfield, UT, Society for Epidemiologic Research, 2016 Jun; :0535
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota - Minneapolis
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20150702
• Source Full Name:
  Epidemiolog Congress of the Americas 2016, June 21-24, Miami, Florida
• End Date:
  20170630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9c1f040aa405a4be8873f52064ad89dda59b2ae1ecf5919efadb9708b5e0e7d3a1c284e754fc79a939d7548420c744c3811b9fa05d2c9f0a27b5642d2b71f8d4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211269/cdc_211269_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 656.18 KB ]