title: Evaluation of potential confounding by smoking in the presence of misclassified smoking data in a cohort study of workers exposed to acrylonitrile.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the extent to which lung cancer mortality risk estimates in relation to acrylonitrile (AN) exposure may have been confounded by smoking in the presence of misclassified smoking data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 992 white men employed for three or more months between 1960 and 1996 at a chemical plant in Lima, Ohio. We used Monte Carlo-based sensitivity analysis to address possible confounding by smoking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In Monte Carlo simulations that accounted for the relationship between smoking and AN exposure, mean relative risks for lung cancer mortality in relation to AN exposure decreased and we observed somewhat less evidence of an exposure-response relationship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our simulations suggest that the relationship between AN exposure and lung cancer mortality was positively confounded by smoking in the original Lima cohort study.
authors.affiliation: From the Center for Occupational Biostatistics and Epidemiology and Department of Biostatistics (Mr Zimmerman and Dr Marsh), Department of Biostatistics (Dr Youk), and Department of Epidemiology (Dr Talbot), Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pa.
authors.forename: Sarah Downing
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Gary M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: Ada O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Youk
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Talbot
mesh_terms: D000181:Acrylonitrile / Q000633:toxicity*; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000633:toxicity; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002617:Chemical Industry; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003198:Computer Simulation; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003625:Data Collection / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D002273:Carcinogens; D000181:Acrylonitrile