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Published on: December 14, 2017
The influence of radon measurement errors on the uncertainties of epidemiological case-control studies
Michael Zhukovsky1, Aleksandra Onishchenko, Anatoly Varaksin
1Institute of Industrial Ecology UB RAS, Sophy Kovalevskoy st., 20, Yekaterinburg 620219, GSP-594, Russia. michael@ecko.uran.ru
Abstract:
To analyse the influence of the parameters of case and control groups and uncertainties of radon concentration assessments on the dose-effect dependence, a special computer program was designed. The influence of measurement errors on the uncertainties of radon case-control analysis is demonstrated on examples of hypothetical case and control groups with sizes from 250-500 to 7000-14,000 members. The modelling was conducted using a Monte Carlo technique for different values of measurement uncertainties. The random errors of radon assessment affect both the numerical value of the slope coefficient β of the linear dependence of relative risk of lung cancer incidence on indoor radon concentration and the accuracy of this value. The extrapolation of the dependence of the slope coefficient β on the total (initial plus additional) random error of radon concentration assessment is suggested for the assessment of an unbiased value of the slope coefficient β.
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