Identification of Iowa live births in the Agricultural Health Study.
In the Agricultural Health Study, information on participant live births was largely provided by female partners of male private applicators. At the Iowa site, such information was available for 13,599 (42.9%) of 31,707 applicators. To improve identification of live births among Iowa participants, we used a probabilistic and deterministic approach to link available demographic data from 31,707 households and information on live births from 13,599 households with 1,014,916 Iowa birth certificates. Record linkage identified 16,611 (93.7%) of 17,719 reported live births and 17,883 additional live births, most (14,411 or 80.6%) not reported due to nonresponse by female partners. This record linkage produced an expanded cohort of live-born children among Iowa participants, which will facilitate improved study of the effects of agricultural exposures, including pesticides, on selected birth outcomes and childhood disease.
Romitti
Paul A
PA
Department of Epidemiology at the College of Public Health, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. paul-romitti@uiowa.edu
Watanabe-Galloway
Shinobu
S
Budelier
William T
WT
Lynch
Charles F
CF
Puzhankara
Soman
S
Wong-Gibbons
Donna
D
Hoppin
Jane A
JA
Alavanja
Michael C R
MC
D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001719:Birth Certificates; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa / Q000453:epidemiology; D050498:Live Birth / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy