Detection and investigation of temporal clusters of congenital anomaly in Europe: seven years of experience of the EUROCAT surveillance system

European Journal of Epidemiology

Volumn 30, Issue 11, 2015, Pages 1153-1164

  Dolk, Helen ^a   Loane, Maria ^a   Teljeur, Conor ^b   Densem, James ^c   Greenlees, Ruth ^a   McCullough, Nichola ^a   Morris, Joan ^d   Nelen, Vera ^e   Bianchi, Fabrizio ^f   Kelly, Alan ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER   (United Kingdom)

^b TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   (Ireland)

^c Biomedical Computing Ltd   (United Kingdom)

^d QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^e Provinciaal Instituut voor Hygiene   (Belgium)

^f INSTITUTE OF CLINICAL PHYSIOLOGY   (Italy)

Author keywords

Clusters; Congenital anomalies; Surveillance

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; BIRTH; CLUSTER ANALYSIS; CONCEPTION; CONGENITAL MALFORMATION; EUROPE; HUMAN; REGISTER; TEMPORAL ANALYSIS; TIME; CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES; FEMALE; HEALTH SURVEY; MALE; PREGNANCY; PROCEDURES; SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS; STATISTICS AND NUMERICAL DATA;

CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES; EUROPE; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; POPULATION SURVEILLANCE; PREGNANCY; REGISTRIES; SPACE-TIME CLUSTERING;

EID: 84951568895     PISSN: 03932990     EISSN: 15737284     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10654-015-0012-y     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. Lenz W. A short history of thalidomide embryopathy. Teratology. 1988;38:203–15.
2. Weatherall J. The beginnings of EUROCAT. Louvain-la-Neuve, Cabay. 1985. http://www.eurocat-network.eu/content/EUROCAT-Beginnings-of-EUROCAT.pdf.
3. Loane M, Dolk H, Kelly A, Teljeur C, Greenlees R, Densem J, EUROCAT Statistical monitoring: identification and investigation of ten year trends of congenital anomalies in Europe. Birth Defects Res. 2011;91:S31–43.
4. Quataert PK, Armstrong B, Berghold A, Bianchi F, Kelly A, Marchi M, Martuzzi M, Rosano A. Methodological problems and the role of statistics in cluster response studies: a framework. Eur J Epidemiol. 1999;15(9):821–31.
5. Neutra RR. Counterpoint from a Cluster Buster. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;132(Suppl 1):1–8.
6. Goodman M, Lakind JS, Fagliano JA, et al. Cancer cluster investigations: review of the past and proposals for the future. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014;11:1479–99.
7. Rothman KJ. A sobering start for the cluster buster’s conference. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;132(Suppl 1):S6–13.
8. Wartenberg D, Greenberg M. Detecting disease clusters: the importance of statistical power. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;132:S156–66.
9. Teljeur C, Kelly A, Dolk H, Loane M, Densem J et al. Using Scan statistics for congenital anomaly surveillance—the EUROCAT experience. Submitted as accompanying paper.
10. Greenlees R, Neville A, Addor M-C, Amar E, Arriola L, Bakker M, Boyd P, Calzolari E, Doray B, Draper E, Vollset SE, Garne E, Gatt M, Haeusler M, Kallen K, Khoshnood B, Latos- Bielenska A, Martinez-Frias M-L, Materna-Kiryluk A, Dias CM, McDonnell R, Mullaney C, Nelen V, O’Mahony M, Pierini A, Queisser-Luft A, Randrianaivo-Ranjatoelina H, Rankin J, Rissmann A, Ritvanen A, Salvador J, Sipek A, Tucker D, Verellen-Dumoulin C, Wellesley D, Wertelecki W. Paper 6: EUROCAT member registries: organization and activities. Birth Defects Res (Part A). 2011;91:S51–100.
11. Loane M, Dolk H, Garne E, Greenlees R, Paper 3: EUROCAT data quality indicators for population-based registries of congenital anomalies. Birth Defects Res (Part A). 2011;91:S23–30.
12. EUROCAT. EUROCAT statistical monitoring protocol 2009. EUROCAT Central Registry, Univeristy of Ulster. 2011. http://www.eurocat-network.eu/content/Stat-Mon-Report-2009.pdf.
13. EUROCAT Guide 1.3. Instructions for the registration and surveillance of congenital anomalies. 2005. http://www.eurocat.ulster.ac.uk/pdf/EUROCAT-Guide-1.3.pdf.
14. Naus J, Wallenstein S. Temporal surveillance using scan statistics. Stat Med. 2006;25(2):311–24.
15. Wallenstein S. A test for detection of clustering over time. Am J Epidemiol. 1980;111:367–72.
16. Nagarwalla N. A scan statistic with a variable window. Stat Med. 1996;15(7–9):845–50.
17. Unkel S, Farrington CP, Garthwaite PH. Statistical methods for the prospective detection of infectious disease outbreaks: a review. J R Statist Soc A. 2012;175:49–82.
18. EUROCAT. EUROCAT statistical monitoring report 2009. Ulster: EUROCAT Central Registry, University of Ulster; 2012.
19. Khoury MJ, Holtzman NA. On the ability of birth defects monitoring to detect new teratogens. Am J Epidemiol. 1987;126(1):136–43.
20. Lisi A, Botto LD, Robert-Gnansia E, Castilla EE, Bakker MK, Bianca S, Cocchi G, de Vigan C, Dutra Mda G, Horacek J, Merlob P, Pierini A, Scarano G, Sipek A, Yamanaka M, Mastroiacovo P. Surveillance of adverse fetal effects of medications (SAFE-Med): findings from the international Clearinghouse of birth defects surveillance and research. Reprod Toxicol. 2010;29:433–42.
21. Dolk H, Vrijheid M, Armstrong B, Abramksy L, Bianchi F, Garne E, Nelen V, Robert E, Scott JE, Stone D, Tenconi R. Risk of congenital anomalies near hazardous waste landfill sites in Europe: the EUROHAZCON study. Lancet. 1998;352:423–7.
22. Dolk H, Jentink J, Loane M, Morris J, de Jong van den Berg LT, Does lamotrigine use in pregnancy increase orofacial cleft risk relative to other malformations? Neurology. 2008;71:714–22.
23. Zatsepin I, Verger P, Robert-Gnasia E, Gagniere B, Tirmarche M, Khmel R, Babicheva I, Lazjuk G. Down syndrome time-clustering in January 1987 in Belarus: link with the Chernobyl accident? Reprod Toxicol. 2007;24:289–95.
24. Reefhuis J, de Jong van den Berg LT, Cornel MC. The use of birth defect registries for etiological research: a review. Commun Genet. 2002;5(1):13–32.
25. Yoon PW, Rasmussen SA, Lynberg MC, Moore CA, Anderka M, Carmichael SL, Costa P, Druschel C, Hobbs CA, Romitti PA, Langlois PH, Edmonds LD. The national birth defects prevention study. Public Health Rep. 2001;116(Supplement 1):32–40.
26. Vrijheid M, Martinez D, Manzanares S, Dadvand P, Schembari A, Rankin J, Nieuwenhuijsen M. Ambient air pollution and risk of congenital anomalies: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Health Perspect. 2011;119(5):598–606. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002946.
27. EUROCAT. EUROCAT special report: actions towards european environmental surveillance: feasibility of environmental linkage. EUROCAT Central Registry, University of Ulster; 2013. http://www.eurocat-network.eu/content/Special-Report-European-Environmental-Surveillance.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan 2015.
28. Armstrong B, Dolk H, Pattenden S, Vrijheid M and the Congenital Anomaly Geographical Heterogeneity Group. Geographic variation and localised clustering of congenital anomalies in Britain. Emerg Themes Epidemiol. 2007; 4: 14. PMID: 17617898.
29. Smith D, Neutra R. Approaches to disease cluster investigation in a state health department. Stat Med. 1993;12:1757–62.
30. Assuncao R. Commentary: statistical assessment of cancer cluster evidence—in search of the middle ground. Int J Epidemiol. 2013;42:453–5.
31. CDC. Investigating suspected cancer clusters and responding to community concerns: guidelines from the CDC and the council for state and territorial epidemiologists. Recomm Rep. 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr6208a1.htm?s_cid=rr6208a1_w.
32. Niyonsenga R, De Wals P. A method for the follow-up of clusters of adverse reproductive outcomes. Eur J Epidemiol. 1999;15: 833–837.
33. Elliott P, Wartenberg D. Spatial epidemiology: current approaches and future challenges. Environ Health Perspect. 2004;112:998–1006.
34. Suarez L, Felkner M, Brender JD, Canfield M, Zhu H, Hendricks KA. Neural tube defects on the Texas-Mexico border: what we’ve learned in the 20 years since the Brownsville cluster. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2012;94:882–92. doi:10.1002/bdra.23070.
35. Czeizel AE, Elek C, Gundy S, Métneki J, Nemes E, Reis A, Sperling K, Tímár L, Tusnády G, Virágh Z. Environmental trichlorfon and cluster of congenital abnormalities. Lancet. 1993;341(8844):539–42.
36. EUROCAT. EUROCAT statistical monitoring report 2005. EUROCAT Central Registry, University of Ulster; 2008. http://www.eurocat-network.eu/content/Stat-Mon-Report-2005.pdf.