USE OF TIME TO PREGNANCY TO STUDY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES
USE OF TIME TO PREGNANCY TO STUDY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES
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DOI：
10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114417
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发表时间：
1986-09-01
影响因子：
5
通讯作者：
WEINBERG, CR
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
BAIRD, DD;WILCOX, AJ;WEINBERG, CR
在生殖流行病学中，需要灵敏和方便的筛查工具，用于研究环境和职业暴露。通过确定夫妇需要多长时间才能怀孕来测量生育能力（每个周期中怀孕的概率），可能有助于实现这一目的。从理论上讲，干扰怀孕所涉及的任何生物过程的暴露可能会降低暴露的男性或女性的生育力。为了评估收集怀孕时间数据的问题，对近700名报告已计划怀孕的孕妇进行了电话采访。根据受访人群的妊娠时间分布绘制了功效曲线。这些曲线表明，相对较小的样本量足以调查暴露。例如，作者估计，要以80%的把握度检测平均生育力下降50%，需要55名暴露和55名未暴露的孕妇的数据。使用妊娠时间作为生殖终点的缺点包括对选择偏倚的敏感性和需要几个潜在混杂变量的数据。评估怀孕时间作为生殖终点的下一步是将其应用于环境或职业暴露的研究。
There is need in reproductive epidemiology for sensitive and convenient screening tools that can be used to study environmental and occupational exposures. The measurement of fecundability (the probability of pregnancy in each cycle) by ascertaining how long it takes couples to conceive, may be useful for this purpose. Theoretically, exposures that interfere with any of the biologic processes involved in achieving pregnancy could lower fecundity among exposed men or women. To evaluate problems with collecting data on time to pregnancy, telephone interviews were conducted with nearly 700 pregnant women who reported having planned their pregnancies. Power curves were developed based on the distribution of time to pregnancy in the interviewed population. These curves indicate that relatively small sample sizes are sufficient for investigating an exposure. For example, the authors estimate that to detect a given 50% drop in mean fecundability with 80% power would require data from 55 exposed and 55 unexposed women who are pregnant. Disadvantages of using time to pregnancy as a reproductive endpoint include susceptibility to selection bias and need for data on several potential confounding variables. The next step in evaluating time to pregnancy as a reproductive endpoint is to apply it in studies of environmental or occupational exposures.