Journal article
Handling of multicohort data in pooled analysis of environmental exposures: confounding by cohort of the relationship between perfluoroalkyl substances and birthweight in the ECHO Program
American journal of epidemiology, Forthcoming
11 Jun 2026
PMID: 42272140
Abstract
The relationship between exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and birthweight remains unclear. Pooling data across multiple cohorts can increase power, leading to more representative populations and exposure distributions, but confounding by cohort can be a major source of bias. To understand this potential bias, we assessed the relationship between exposure to five PFAS and birthweight utilizing data from 5480 mother-infant dyads across 17 Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort sites. The relationship was assessed in several ways: covariate-adjusted models without cohort adjustment as well as adjustment via fixed and random effects. Findings from analysis with cohort adjustment resulted in significantly inverse relationships for four of the five PFAS considered. Adjustment via fixed and random effects produced similar findings. Failure to adjust for cohort resulted in bias of varying direction and magnitude depending on the PFAS considered. Results were supported in simulated data. In this study, we saw evidence of confounding bias by cohort even after adjustment for covariates, while adjustment by both fixed and random effects for cohort resulted in comparable results.
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Details
- Title
- Handling of multicohort data in pooled analysis of environmental exposures: confounding by cohort of the relationship between perfluoroalkyl substances and birthweight in the ECHO Program
- Creators
- Andreas M Neophytou (Corresponding Author) - Colorado School of Public HealthSheryl Magzamen - Colorado State UniversityBrianna F Moore - Colorado School of Public HealthAkram Alshawabkeh - Northeastern UniversityCarrie V Breton - University of Southern CaliforniaAlison E Hipwell - University of PittsburghKristen Lyall - Drexel UniversityJohn D Meeker - University of MichiganThomas G O'Connor - University of RochesterEmily Oken - Harvard UniversityRita Strakovsky - Michigan State UniversityDana Dabelea - Colorado School of Public Health
- Publication Details
- American journal of epidemiology, Forthcoming
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- National Institutes of Health: U24OD023319, U24OD023382, U2COD023375 Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (Measurement Core): UG3OD035544, UG3OD035536, UG3OD035550, UG3OD035542, UG3OD035529, UG3OD035537, UG3OD035543, UG3OD035540, UG3OD035527, UG3OD035521, UG3OD035519, UG3OD035518, UG3OD035517, UG3OD035516, UG3OD035532, UG3OD035513, UG3OD035509, UG3OD035508, UG3/UH3OD023337, UG3/UH3OD023305, UG3/UH3OD023249, UG3/UH3OD023272, UG3/UH3OD023290, UG3/UH3OD023285, UG3/UH3OD023348, UG3OD035533, UH3OD023286, UG3/UH3OD023349, UG3/UH3OD023342, UG3/UH3OD023288, UH3OD023268, UG3/UH3OD023344, UG3/UH3OD023389, UH3OD023347, UG3OD035528, UH3OD023271, UG3/UH3OD023275, UG3/UH3OD023244, UG3/UH3OD023365, UH3OD023287, UG3/UH3OD023282, UG3/UH3OD023289, UG3/UH3OD023279, UH3OD023318, UH3OD023328, UG3/UH3OD023313, UG3OD035526, UG3/UH3OD023248, UG3/UH3OD023253, UH3OD023332, UG3OD035546, UH3OD023320, UG3/UH3OD023251, U2CES030851, U2CES026561, U2CES026555, U2CES030857, U2CES030859, U2CES026542, U2CES026533, U24ES026539, ES0266542, U24OD035523
Research reported in this publication was supported by the ECHO Program, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, under Award Numbers U2COD023375 (Coordinating Center), U24OD023382 (Data Analysis Center), U24OD023319 with co-funding from the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (Measurement Core), U24OD035523 (Lab Core), ES0266542 (HHEAR), U24ES026539 (HHEAR Barbara O'Brien), U2CES026533 (HHEAR Lisa Peterson), U2CES026542 (HHEAR Patrick Parsons, Kannan Kurunthacalam), U2CES030859 (HHEAR Manish Arora), U2CES030857 (HHEAR Timothy R. Fennell, Susan J. Sumner, Xiuxia Du), U2CES026555 (HHEAR Susan L. Teitelbaum), U2CES026561 (HHEAR Robert O. Wright), U2CES030851 (HHEAR Heather M. Stapleton, P. Lee Ferguson), UG3/UH3OD023251 (A.A.), UH3OD023320 and UG3OD035546 (Judy Aschner), UH3OD023332 (Clancy Blair, Leonardo Trasande), UG3/UH3OD023253 (Carlos Camargo), UG3/UH3OD023248 and UG3OD035526 (D.D.), UG3/UH3OD023313 (Daphne Koinis Mitchell), UH3OD023328 (Cristiane Duarte), UH3OD023318 (Anne Dunlop), UG3/UH3OD023279 (Amy Elliott), UG3/UH3OD023289 (Assiamira Ferrara), UG3/UH3OD023282 (James Gern), UH3OD023287 (C.V.B.), UG3/UH3OD023365 (Irva Hertz-Picciotto), UG3/UH3OD023244 (A.E.H.), UG3/UH3OD023275 (Margaret Karagas), UH3OD023271 and UG3OD035528 (Catherine Karr), UH3OD023347 (Barry Lester), UG3/UH3OD023389 (Leslie Leve), UG3/UH3OD023344 (Debra MacKenzie), UH3OD023268 (Scott Weiss), UG3/UH3OD023288 (Cynthia McEvoy), UG3/UH3OD023342 (K.L.), UG3/UH3OD023349 (T.G.O.), UH3OD023286 and UG3OD035533 (E..O.), UG3/UH3OD023348 (Mike O'Shea), UG3/UH3OD023285 (Jean Kerver), UG3/UH3OD023290 (Julie Herbstman), UG3/UH3OD023272 (Susan Schantz), UG3/UH3OD023249 (Joseph Stanford), UG3/UH3OD023305 (Leonardo Trasande), UG3/UH3OD023337 (Rosalind Wright), UG3OD035508 (Sheela Sathyanarayana), UG3OD035509 (Anne Marie Singh), UG3OD035513 and UG3OD035532 (Annemarie Stroustrup), UG3OD035516 and UG3OD035517 (Tina Hartert), UG3OD035518 (Jennifer Straughen), UG3OD035519 (Qi Zhao), UG3OD035521 (Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric), UG3OD035527 (Emily S Barrett), UG3OD035540 (Monique Marie Hedderson), UG3OD035543 (Kelly J Hunt), UG3OD035537 (Sunni L Mumford), UG3OD035529 (Hong-Ngoc Nguyen), UG3OD035542 (Hudson Santos), UG3OD035550 (Rebecca Schmidt), UG3OD035536 (Jonathan Slaughter), UG3OD035544 (Kristina Whitworth).
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001807119100001
- Other Identifier
- 991022190260504721