The Canadian Forces Cancer and Mortality Study II: a longitudinal record-linkage study protocol

Rolland-Harris, Elizabeth; VanTil, Linda; Zamorski, Mark A.; Boulos, David; Reicker, Alexander; Masoud, Huda; Trudeau, Richard; Weeks, Murray; Simkus, Kristen

doi:10.9778/cmajo.20170125

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…The cleaned and validated records were probabilistically linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics Database-Deaths, using each individuals' social insurance number as the primary linkage key, with a 97.0% linkage success rate. The protocol, including more detailed information on how the cohort was built, and on the record linkage methods is available in detail elsewhere (17).…”

Section: Cohort Development and Record Linkage Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Burden of Cancer Mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces, 1976–2012: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Rolland-Harris

Simkus

Weeks

2019

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Amp; Prevention

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Background: Military personnel may have potential exposures to carcinogens during their military careers. However, the generalizability of causal evidence between occupational exposures and cancer outcomes in military personnel is limited. This study aims to describe the epidemiology causespecific cancer mortality in still serving and released Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel recruited between 1976 and 2012. Methods: Data came from the Canadian Forces Cancer and Mortality Study II (CF CAMS II), a record-linkage study of approximately 228,685 CAF Regular Force personnel and Reservists. Sex-stratified standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated for each neoplasm subcategory, with the Canadian general population (CGP) as the reference. Results: Approximately 1,450 deaths were attributable to neoplasms. Cancer mortality was lower in both men and women with military service (SMR ¼ 0.77 and 0.78, respectively) versus CGP. Females had a significantly lower risk of breast cancer. Males in the cohort had a significantly lower risk of lip, oral cavity and pharynx, digestive organs, respiratory and intrathoracic organs, bone and articular cartilage, and mesothelial and soft-tissue cancers. However, males also had a significantly increased risk for neoplasms of the central nervous system and lymphoid cells, as well as for certain specific cancer diagnoses. Conclusions: Current and former CAF personnel were at comparable, or lower risk than, the CGP for cancer-related deaths. However, there was an increased risk for certain neoplasm subcategories and specific cancers. Impact: These findings contribute to the limited body of evidence investigating the link between military service and cancer mortality.

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Section: Cohort Development and Record Linkage Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Burden of Cancer Mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces, 1976–2012: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Rolland-Harris

Simkus

Weeks

2019

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Amp; Prevention

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“…As a result, all ICD-8 and ICD-9 codes were mapped to their ICD-10 chapter equivalent, for the purpose of the chapter-level analyses. More details on the study methods are provided elsewhere [17].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overall mortality of Canadian Armed Forces personnel enrolled 1976–2012

Rolland-Harris

Weeks

Simkus

et al. 2018

Occupational Medicine

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“…Various types of administrative datasets may be used to define exposure subgroups or build occupational histories for use in reconstructing potential exposures. In Canada for example, the Department of National Defence's pay system records may be merged with other human resources data to identify particular cohorts of interest and build a military work history for personnel ( 47 ). Australian Defense Force vaccination records have been used in validation research focused on health outcome analyses ( 48 ).…”

Section: Exposure Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of nominal rolls to identify deployed members may for example be limited by issues of accuracy, as demonstrated by the finding that 8.5% of veterans from a US Gulf War nominal roll sample did not recall being deployed ( 42 ). Some forms of pay data provide the strength of a built-in feedback mechanism whereby both personnel and the employer are motivated to correct pay errors as soon as possible ( 47 ). However, differential retention of personnel data by rank and service has also been noted, with the potential to bias retrospective studies of exposure-effect relationships since exposures may differ across these factors ( 49 ).…”

Section: Exposure Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considering Exposure Assessment in Epidemiological Studies of Chronic Health in Military Populations

Hall

MacLean

VanTil

et al. 2020

Front. Public Health

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Exposure assessment is an important factor in all epidemiological research seeking to identify, evaluate, and control health risks. In the military and veteran context, population health research to explore exposure-response links is complicated by the wide variety of environments and hazards encountered during active service, long latency periods, and a lack of information on exposures in potentially vulnerable subgroups. This paper summarizes some key considerations for exposure assessment in long-term health studies of military populations, including the identification of hazards related to military service, characterization of potentially exposed groups, exposure data collection, and assignment of exposures to estimate health risks. Opportunities and future directions for exposure assessment in this field are also discussed.

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The Canadian Forces Cancer and Mortality Study II: a longitudinal record-linkage study protocol

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Burden of Cancer Mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces, 1976–2012: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Burden of Cancer Mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces, 1976–2012: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Overall mortality of Canadian Armed Forces personnel enrolled 1976–2012

Considering Exposure Assessment in Epidemiological Studies of Chronic Health in Military Populations

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