Statistical Challenges in the Analysis of Biomarkers of Environmental Chemical Exposures for Perinatal Epidemiology

Hu, Janice M.Y.; Zhuang, Liheng Harry; Bernardo, Brendan A.; McCandless, Lawrence C.

doi:10.1007/s40471-018-0156-x

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…39 Third, exposure misclassification for nonpersistent chemicals may have affected the analysis results. 15 Fourth, because this study was primarily focused on prenatal exposures, we did not account for postnatal factors such as breastfeeding duration, which may have acted as an effect modifier in the associations between chemical exposure and IQ. 28 Fifth, because the information was not available, we were unable to adjust for parental IQ, an important indicator of child IQ.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32 Samples were collected between 6 and 13 weeks of gestation, then quantified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry at the Institut national de santé publique du Québec. We standardized the OCPs, PCBs, and PBDE using the total plasma-lipid concentrations to account for lipid dilution, and standardized the OPPs and phthalates using specific gravity to account for urine dilution, as described by Hu et al 15,37,38…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 If there are high levels of correlation between exposure variables, studying these chemicals together in simple models can result in large standard errors if one does not account for collinearity. 4,14,15 Multiple statistical methods exist for studying chemical mixtures, including unsupervised techniques such as k-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, and principal component analysis (PCA); however, the best method is unclear. 2,5,9,15,16 Latent profile analysis is a model-based technique commonly used in psychology and behavioral sciences.…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

“…4,14,15 Multiple statistical methods exist for studying chemical mixtures, including unsupervised techniques such as k-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, and principal component analysis (PCA); however, the best method is unclear. 2,5,9,15,16 Latent profile analysis is a model-based technique commonly used in psychology and behavioral sciences. [17][18][19][20][21] It is designed to detect patterns in continuous independent variables, which are used to create homogenous subgroups called profiles.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Using Latent Profile Analysis to Identify Associations Between Gestational Chemical Mixtures and Child Neurodevelopment

et al. 2022

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Background: Unsupervised machine learning techniques have become increasingly popular for studying associations between gestational exposure mixtures and human health. Latent profile analysis is one method that has not been fully explored. Methods: We estimated associations between gestational chemical mixtures and child neurodevelopment using latent profile analysis. Using data from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) research platform, a longitudinal cohort of pregnant Canadian women and their children, we generated latent profiles from 27 gestational exposure biomarkers. We then examined the associations between these profiles and child Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Full-Scale IQ, measured with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Third Edition (WPPSI-III). We validated our findings using k-means clustering. Results: Latent profile analysis detected five latent profiles of exposure: a reference profile containing 61% of the study participants, a high monoethyl phthalate (MEP) profile with moderately low persistent organic pollutants (POPs) containing 26%, a high POP profile containing 6%, a low POP profile containing 4%, and a smoking chemicals profile containing 3%. We observed negative associations between both the smoking chemicals and high MEP profiles and all IQ scores and between the high POP profile and Full-Scale and Verbal IQ scores. We also found a positive association between the low POP profile and Full-Scale and Performance IQ scores. All associations had wide 95% confidence intervals. Conclusions: Latent profile analysis is a promising technique for identifying patterns of chemical exposure and is worthy of further study for its use in examining complicated exposure mixtures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%