Exposure Insights Using GIS in a Case-Control Study

描述(申请人提供)：建议的地理信息 对儿童白血病病因的系统研究不仅仅是为了 推进最先进的流行病学方法，也导致 更好地理解环境污染物的病因学作用。这个 研究采用了一种创新的应用地理信息系统分析能力来解决 传统流行病学的一些根本缺陷。它将建造 在对儿童癌症模式进行的第一批大规模地理信息系统研究中， 和儿童白血病最广泛的病例对照研究之一 是在美国进行的。因此，它代表了 地理信息系统作为一种分析工具的演变。一个关键的目标是解决这个问题 对个人接触机会的光谱进行表征， 尤其是可能会遇到的一系列化学制剂 来自环境来源的住宅环境。建议的研究是 围绕这一假设组织起来的围产期或早期暴露于 环境化学物质会增加罹患癌症的风险 儿童白血病。本项目关注的主要曝光源 包括农业杀虫剂、机动车尾气和其他来源的 空气毒物。该项目将创建基于地理位置的个性化 根据住宅和学校历史数据构建的暴露估计 在加州大学伯克利分校正在进行的前五年收集 卫生服务部病例对照研究，根据测量的空气进行校准 家居粉尘监测数据及实验室分析验证 和空气样本。这些风险评估将完全适用于 病例对照研究(估计共660例病例和1052例对照 在本项目第二年加入)，以评估风险关系， 重要协变量的调整。这项研究提供了足够的力量来 检测与环境风险因素相关的环境风险因素的轻微变化 令人担忧的化学制剂。拟议中的项目呈现了一种不同寻常的 有机会扩展地理信息系统工具的功能以协助流行病学家 在对人群暴露进行归因时，为了验证生成的暴露属性， 并将这些估计与个别措施相结合，以获得更多 综合评估环境风险因素在气候变化中的作用 这些鲜为人知的疾病的病因学。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed geographic information system-based study of the causes of childhood leukemia is not only designed to advance the state-of-the-art in epidemiologic methods, but also to lead to greater understanding of the etiologic role of environmental pollutants. The study employs an innovative application of GIS analytic capability to address some of the fundamental shortcomings of traditional epidemiology. It will build on one of the first large-scale GIS studies of patterns of childhood cancer, and one of the most extensive case-control studies of childhood leukemia undertaken in the US. As such, it represents an important direction in the evolution of GIS as an analysis tool. A key objective is to solve the problem of characterizing the spectrum of exposure opportunity to individuals, especially for the range of chemical agents potentially encountered in residential settings from environmental sources. The proposed study is organized around the hypothesis that perinatal or early life exposures to environmental chemicals are associated with increased risk of developing childhood leukemia. Primary exposure sources of concern for this project include agricultural pesticides, motor vehicle emissions, and other sources of air toxicants. The project will create individualized geographically-based estimates of exposure constructed from residential and school history data collected in the first five years of an ongoing UC Berkeley/California Department of Health Services case-control study, calibrated by measured air monitoring data and validated by means of laboratory analyses of household dust and air samples. These exposure estimates will be applied to the full case-control study (an estimated total of 660 cases and 1052 controls accessioned by year-2 of this project) to assess risk relationships, with adjustment for important covariables. The study offers sufficient power to detect even modest changes in environmental risk factors associated with the chemical agents of concern. The proposed project presents an unusual opportunity to extend the capabilities of GIS tools to assist epidemiologists in attributing population exposures, to validate generated exposure attributes, and to integrate these estimates with individual measures for a more comprehensive assessment of the role of environmental risk factors in the etiology of these little understood diseases.