Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
BOOK REVIEWS |
Research Methods in Occupational Epidemiology, Second Edition
School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3
By Harvey Checkoway, Neil Pearce, and David Kriebel
ISBN 0-19-509242-2, Oxford University Press, New York, New York (Telephone: 800-445-9714, Fax: 919-677-1303, E-mail: orders{at}oup-usa.org, Website: http//:www.oup.com/us), 2004, 392 pp., $45 (hardcover)
What distinguishes the field of occupational epidemiology? It is, as the authors of Research Methods in Occupational Epidemiology (1) suggest, a subdiscipline of epidemiology that is defined in part by a specific population of interest, workers, in some cases by distinctive diseases, such as silicosis or asbestosis, and in others by distinctive routes of exposure. These distinguishing features result in challenges and methodological approaches that are also distinctive to this field and that incorporate aspects of related disciplines, such as occupational hygiene, toxicology, and biostatistics. In their book, the authors have expertly succeeded in their intent of synthesizing these defining principles and methods into a wonderfully succinct and lucid text that is at the same time accessible to the novice reader and useful to the experienced practitioner.
The book is in two informal parts. The first part, comprising eight chapters, begins with a description of the development and scope of the field. It then examines the key area of exposure assessment in some detail and emphasizes quantitative methods, an area of much recent focus, in particular. An overview follows of the major epidemiologic study designs, how they relate to one another, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Next, there is a chapter dealing with the issues of precision and validity, with thorough treatment of confounding including the "healthy worker effect," effect modification, and joint effects. Each of the major study design types—cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional—is then reviewed in greater depth in dedicated chapters. The level of detail in these three chapters is consistent, thorough, and certainly enough to guide a practitioner through his or her own study design. The authors take care to guide readers to supplementary information sources when necessary. These first seven chapters from the first edition are all kept in the second edition and then a new chapter is added, one dealing with the identification of new associations of exposure and disease through occupational health surveillance.
In the second part (chapters 9–11, also all kept from the first edition), the authors move to more advanced topics. Here they cover advanced statistical analyses from basic multiple linear regression to general linear models and the generalized estimating equation; modeling of exposure and dose, emphasizing the temporal aspects of exposure and their characterization; and applications of occupational epidemiology, emphasizing the use of occupation epidemiology findings in regulation and policy making.
The first edition of this book was very well received when it was published in 1989 (2). Reviewers then said that it was a remarkably well-written and worthwhile introductory text and that it would become a standard reference text. I wholeheartedly agree with these sentiments. As a graduate student new to occupational epidemiology in the early 1990s, I remember being grateful for its wonderful clarity and ease of reading and for its many examples. Now as a practitioner in the field, my well-worn copy of the first edition remains an oft-referenced text and a book that is loaned and recommended to students and staff from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom I know will find it as accessible as I did.
Outwardly, the second edition appears little changed from its first. However, the text has been updated to reflect advances in the field, such as case-cohort and case-crossover study designs and meta-analysis, and there is an improved treatment of the statistical analyses of repeated measures data. Other chapters—such as that on advanced statistical analyses and another on exposure and dose modeling—deal with many of the same concepts as in the first edition but with new approaches that enhance the delivery of the material. Indeed, though belied by the similarity in format of the two different editions, this text has been almost entirely rewritten, from front to back. Kept are the first edition’s logical structure, its careful balance with respect to level of detail, and its wonderful clarity.
Throughout, however, the writing has been strengthened by careful attention to language, changes in emphasis, improved ordering of information, and even heading changes. A good example of these changes can be found in the chapter, "Exposure and Dose Modeling," which had focused on biomathematical models of organ burden and dose, with two examples of their use. Now it has a broader treatment of the material and an expository style more consistent with the rest of the book. Referencing is excellent and has been widely updated to reflect more contemporary literature. Furthermore, a core component of the book, the examples that illustrate concepts throughout, has also been massively updated. For example, in chapters 2–7, those dealing with the fundamental methods, there are no less than 50 new examples given.
I am unaware of any comparable books on the subject of occupational epidemiology that have been published in the past decade. This book is an excellent and comprehensive text and reference book and, like the first edition, it is quite suitable for both an introductory and an intermediate audience. When readers do find occasion to seek extended material, Rothman and Greenland (3), Nieuwenhuijsen (4), and Kelsey et al. (5) would all be good complements to this volume.
In summary, it was with great interest that I opened up this new edition, and there was no disappointment. The authors have done a masterful job of improving this already outstanding book, and I think that even owners of the first edition are likely to want to add this second edition to their libraries.
REFERENCES
- Checkoway H, Pearce N, Kriebel D. Research methods in occupational epidemiology. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Checkoway H, Pearce N, Crawford-Brown DJ. Research methods in occupational epidemiology. 1st ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989.
- Rothman KJ, Greenland S. Modern epidemiology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1998.
- Nieuwenhuijsen MJ. Exposure assessment in occupational and environmental epidemiology. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Kelsey JL, Whittemore AS, Evans AS, et al. Methods in observational epidemiology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996.
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