title: Rapporteur report: Epidemiology.
abstract: Three talks were presented in the session on "Epidemiology". The first talk was a review of prenatal studies. The second talk presented epidemiological evidence from prenatal studies. The third talk presented general issues regarding the planning of an epidemiological study. It was noted that epidemiological studies of prenatal exposures use data from the early 1980s when ultrasound was first introduced for foetal scans. These studies did not show associations between prenatal ultrasound scanning and childhood cancer, reduced birth weight, impaired childhood growth or neurological development in childhood. However, there was a possible association between prenatal ultrasound scanning and left-handedness in boys. The aetiology of this association remains uncertain.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Protection Division, Health Protection Agency, Chilton, Didcot, UK. wei.zhang@hpa-rp.org.uk
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*