TY - JOUR
T1 - Newborn Screening Archives as a Specimen Source for Epidemiologic Studies
T2 - Feasibility and Potential for Bias
AU - Searles Nielsen, Susan
AU - Mueller, Beth A.
AU - De Roos, Anneclaire J.
AU - Checkoway, Harvey
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIEHS T32ES07262, NIEHS P30ES07033 and 1 R03 CA106011 from the National Institutes of Health; and contract N01-CN-05230 from the National Cancer Institute. We thank the Washington State Department of Health Newborn Screening Program for their generous participation in this project, especially Mr. Michael Glass and Mr. Michael Ginder; the University of Washington Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health Functional Genomics Core Laboratory, especially Dr. Federico M. Farin and Ms. Hannah-Malia A. Viernes; and Ms. Randi Niemer.
PY - 2008/1
Y1 - 2008/1
N2 - Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of obtaining dried blood spots (DBS) from newborn screening archives for subjects in epidemiologic studies and using these specimens for genotyping, and to evaluate the potential for bias in their use. Methods: We attempted to locate DBS at Washington State's archives for 230 participants in a previous case-control study of childhood cancer, who were born 1978-1990. We compared characteristics of children for whom we did and did not locate specimens and attempted genetic polymorphism analyses (11 polymorphisms, 82-480 bp amplicons). Results: We retrieved specimens for 203 (88%) children, including 199 (94%) born in months when a DBS catalog was available. Among the latter, the proportion with specimens located varied by birth place (e.g., hospital, home), maternal education, and prenatal smoking, but did not vary significantly by race/ethnicity. All genotyping assays were completed for all specimens, and among controls genotype distributions were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and similar to previous reports. Conclusions: Newborn screening archives have potential to provide specimens for epidemiologic studies conducting genotyping and perhaps other assays, but the possibility that reliance on these resources could bias risk estimates must be considered.
AB - Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of obtaining dried blood spots (DBS) from newborn screening archives for subjects in epidemiologic studies and using these specimens for genotyping, and to evaluate the potential for bias in their use. Methods: We attempted to locate DBS at Washington State's archives for 230 participants in a previous case-control study of childhood cancer, who were born 1978-1990. We compared characteristics of children for whom we did and did not locate specimens and attempted genetic polymorphism analyses (11 polymorphisms, 82-480 bp amplicons). Results: We retrieved specimens for 203 (88%) children, including 199 (94%) born in months when a DBS catalog was available. Among the latter, the proportion with specimens located varied by birth place (e.g., hospital, home), maternal education, and prenatal smoking, but did not vary significantly by race/ethnicity. All genotyping assays were completed for all specimens, and among controls genotype distributions were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and similar to previous reports. Conclusions: Newborn screening archives have potential to provide specimens for epidemiologic studies conducting genotyping and perhaps other assays, but the possibility that reliance on these resources could bias risk estimates must be considered.
KW - Bias (Epidemiology)
KW - Biological Specimen Banks
KW - Epidemiologic Methods
KW - Selection Bias
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=36549083680&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.annepidem.2007.06.002
DO - 10.1016/j.annepidem.2007.06.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 18063239
AN - SCOPUS:36549083680
SN - 1047-2797
VL - 18
SP - 58
EP - 64
JO - Annals of Epidemiology
JF - Annals of Epidemiology
IS - 1
ER -