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Effects of Recall and Selection Biases on Modeling Cancer Risk From Mobile Phone Use: Results From a Case-Control
Liacine Bouaoun1, Graham Byrnes1, Susanna Lagorio2
1From the Environment and Lifestyle Epidemiology Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization (IARC/WHO), Lyon, France.
Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)
|May 21, 2024
Summary
Mobile phone use may not cause glioma risk. Simulations suggest reporting errors and biases in studies like Interphone could create a false J-shaped relationship, making heavy use appear risky when it may not be.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Epidemiology
- Biostatistics
Background:
- The Interphone study, a large case-control investigation, reported a J-shaped association between mobile phone use and glioma risk.
- This included reduced risks for moderate use and a 40% increased risk for the heaviest users.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if biases in self-reported mobile phone use data could explain the observed J-shaped relationship in the Interphone study.
- To determine if the reported glioma risk estimates are compatible with a null hypothesis of no mobile phone effect.
Main Methods:
- Monte Carlo simulations were employed to model various sources of error in self-reported mobile phone use.
- Scenarios included systematic and random reporting errors, selection bias, and input parameters from Interphone validation studies.
Main Results:
- A simulated J-shaped relationship, consistent with Interphone findings, emerged when modeling both systematic and random reporting errors.
- Higher reporting error variance in glioma cases compared to controls was a key factor in producing this spurious J-shape.
- Selection bias also contributed to the observed reduced risks.
Conclusions:
- The simulation results suggest that biases in data collection, particularly reporting errors, may explain the J-shaped association between heavy mobile phone use and glioma risk.
- This evidence reduces the likelihood that heavy mobile phone use is causally linked to increased glioma risk.
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