Business bias: how epidemiologic studies may underestimate or fail to detect increased risks of cancer and other diseases.
In spite of claiming primary prevention as their aim, studies of potential occupational and environmental health hazards that are funded either directly or indirectly by industry are likely to have negative results. The authors present three common scenarios in which faulty design of epidemiologic studies skews results, and list 15 study design flaws that lead to results that are dangerously misleading with regard to both the evaluation and the improvement of public health.
Gennaro
Valerio
V
Liguria Regional Operational Center, National Mesothelioma Registry Descriptive Epidemiology and Cancer Registry--Epidemiology and Prevention Department, National Cancer Research Institute, Genoa, Italy.
Tomatis
Lorenzo
L
D015982:Bias; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012107:Research Design; D018570:Risk Assessment