Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.

Radiation dose reconstruction systems for large-scale epidemiological studies are sophisticated both in providing estimates of dose and in representing dosimetry uncertainty. For example, a computer program was used by the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study to provide 100 realizations of possible dose to...

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Main Authors: Daniel O Stram, Dale L Preston, Mikhail Sokolnikov, Bruce Napier, Kenneth J Kopecky, John Boice, Harold Beck, John Till, Andre Bouville
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119418
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author Daniel O Stram
Dale L Preston
Mikhail Sokolnikov
Bruce Napier
Kenneth J Kopecky
John Boice
Harold Beck
John Till
Andre Bouville
author_facet Daniel O Stram
Dale L Preston
Mikhail Sokolnikov
Bruce Napier
Kenneth J Kopecky
John Boice
Harold Beck
John Till
Andre Bouville
author_sort Daniel O Stram
collection DOAJ
description Radiation dose reconstruction systems for large-scale epidemiological studies are sophisticated both in providing estimates of dose and in representing dosimetry uncertainty. For example, a computer program was used by the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study to provide 100 realizations of possible dose to study participants. The variation in realizations reflected the range of possible dose for each cohort member consistent with the data on dose determinates in the cohort. Another example is the Mayak Worker Dosimetry System 2013 which estimates both external and internal exposures and provides multiple realizations of "possible" dose history to workers given dose determinants. This paper takes up the problem of dealing with complex dosimetry systems that provide multiple realizations of dose in an epidemiologic analysis. In this paper we derive expected scores and the information matrix for a model used widely in radiation epidemiology, namely the linear excess relative risk (ERR) model that allows for a linear dose response (risk in relation to radiation) and distinguishes between modifiers of background rates and of the excess risk due to exposure. We show that treating the mean dose for each individual (calculated by averaging over the realizations) as if it was true dose (ignoring both shared and unshared dosimetry errors) gives asymptotically unbiased estimates (i.e. the score has expectation zero) and valid tests of the null hypothesis that the ERR slope β is zero. Although the score is unbiased the information matrix (and hence the standard errors of the estimate of β) is biased for β≠0 when ignoring errors in dose estimates, and we show how to adjust the information matrix to remove this bias, using the multiple realizations of dose. The use of these methods in the context of several studies including, the Mayak Worker Cohort, and the U.S. Atomic Veterans Study, is discussed.
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spelling doaj.art-514ecb8b1360416681101b59e9c414c92022-12-21T22:35:41ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01103e011941810.1371/journal.pone.0119418Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.Daniel O StramDale L PrestonMikhail SokolnikovBruce NapierKenneth J KopeckyJohn BoiceHarold BeckJohn TillAndre BouvilleRadiation dose reconstruction systems for large-scale epidemiological studies are sophisticated both in providing estimates of dose and in representing dosimetry uncertainty. For example, a computer program was used by the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study to provide 100 realizations of possible dose to study participants. The variation in realizations reflected the range of possible dose for each cohort member consistent with the data on dose determinates in the cohort. Another example is the Mayak Worker Dosimetry System 2013 which estimates both external and internal exposures and provides multiple realizations of "possible" dose history to workers given dose determinants. This paper takes up the problem of dealing with complex dosimetry systems that provide multiple realizations of dose in an epidemiologic analysis. In this paper we derive expected scores and the information matrix for a model used widely in radiation epidemiology, namely the linear excess relative risk (ERR) model that allows for a linear dose response (risk in relation to radiation) and distinguishes between modifiers of background rates and of the excess risk due to exposure. We show that treating the mean dose for each individual (calculated by averaging over the realizations) as if it was true dose (ignoring both shared and unshared dosimetry errors) gives asymptotically unbiased estimates (i.e. the score has expectation zero) and valid tests of the null hypothesis that the ERR slope β is zero. Although the score is unbiased the information matrix (and hence the standard errors of the estimate of β) is biased for β≠0 when ignoring errors in dose estimates, and we show how to adjust the information matrix to remove this bias, using the multiple realizations of dose. The use of these methods in the context of several studies including, the Mayak Worker Cohort, and the U.S. Atomic Veterans Study, is discussed.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119418
spellingShingle Daniel O Stram
Dale L Preston
Mikhail Sokolnikov
Bruce Napier
Kenneth J Kopecky
John Boice
Harold Beck
John Till
Andre Bouville
Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.
PLoS ONE
title Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.
title_full Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.
title_fullStr Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.
title_full_unstemmed Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.
title_short Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses.
title_sort shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose response analyses
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119418
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