PT Journal AU Ojajärvi, A Partanen, T Ahlbom, A Hakulinen, T Kauppinen, T Weiderpass, E Wesseling, C TI Estimating the relative risk of pancreatic cancer associated with exposure agents in job title data in a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis SO Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health PD 10VL PY 2007 BP 325 EP 335 IS 5 DI 10.5271/sjweh.1153 WP https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=1153 DE exposure agent; hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis; hierarchical method; job title; job-exposure matrix; Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation; MCMC; occupational exposure; pancreatic cancer; pancreatic neoplasms; relative risk; review SN 0355-3140 AB '

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OBJECTIVES ': 'The study demonstrates the application of a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies that show an association between pancreatic cancer risk and job titles, using a job-exposure matrix to estimate risks for occupational exposure agents.

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METHODS ': 'Altogether 261 studies published from 1969 through 1998 on pancreatic cancer and job titles were identified. When proportional studies are excluded, 77 studies were informative for 9 selected occupational agents. These studies included more than 3799 observed pancreatic cancer cases. Hierarchical Bayesian models were used for job titles (lower-level data) and agents (higher-level data), the latter from a Finnish job-exposure matrix. Non-Bayesian random effects models were applied for job titles to check consistency with the Bayesian results.

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RESULTS ': 'The results suggest that occupational exposures to chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer; the meta-relative risk (MRR) was 2.21 [95% credible interval (CrI) 1.31–3.68]. A suggestive weak excess was found for exposure to insecticides (MRR 1.95, 95% CrI 0.51–7.41).

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CONCLUSIONS ': 'Hierarchical models are applicable in meta-analyses when studies addressing the agent(s) under study are lacking or are very few, but several studies address job titles with potential exposure to these agents. Hierarchical meta-analytic models involving durations and intensities of exposure to occupational agents from a job-exposure matrix should be developed.

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