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Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects

Life course epidemiology has used models of accumulation and critical or sensitive periods to examine the importance of exposure timing in disease aetiology. These models are usually used to describe the direct effects of exposures over the life course. In comparison with consideration of direct eff...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Green, Michael J, Popham, Frank
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837734/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28031311
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw329
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author Green, Michael J
Popham, Frank
author_facet Green, Michael J
Popham, Frank
author_sort Green, Michael J
collection PubMed
description Life course epidemiology has used models of accumulation and critical or sensitive periods to examine the importance of exposure timing in disease aetiology. These models are usually used to describe the direct effects of exposures over the life course. In comparison with consideration of direct effects only, we show how consideration of total effects improves interpretation of these models, giving clearer notions of when it will be most effective to intervene. We show how life course variation in the total effects depends on the magnitude of the direct effects and the stability of the exposure. We discuss interpretation in terms of total, direct and indirect effects and highlight the causal assumptions required for conclusions as to the most effective timing of interventions.
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spelling pubmed-58377342018-03-09 Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects Green, Michael J Popham, Frank Int J Epidemiol Education Corner Life course epidemiology has used models of accumulation and critical or sensitive periods to examine the importance of exposure timing in disease aetiology. These models are usually used to describe the direct effects of exposures over the life course. In comparison with consideration of direct effects only, we show how consideration of total effects improves interpretation of these models, giving clearer notions of when it will be most effective to intervene. We show how life course variation in the total effects depends on the magnitude of the direct effects and the stability of the exposure. We discuss interpretation in terms of total, direct and indirect effects and highlight the causal assumptions required for conclusions as to the most effective timing of interventions. Oxford University Press 2017-06 2016-12-12 /pmc/articles/PMC5837734/ /pubmed/28031311 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw329 Text en © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Education Corner
Green, Michael J
Popham, Frank
Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
title Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
title_full Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
title_fullStr Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
title_full_unstemmed Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
title_short Life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
title_sort life course models: improving interpretation by consideration of total effects
topic Education Corner
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837734/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28031311
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw329
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