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The study of group-level factors in epidemiology: rethinking variables, study designs, and analytical approaches
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The study of group-level factors in epidemiology: rethinking variables, study designs, and analytical approaches

Ana V Diez Roux
Epidemiologic reviews, v 26(1), pp 104-111
Jul 2004
PMID: 15234951
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxh006View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Cohort Studies Data Collection - methods Epidemiologic Methods Epidemiologic Research Design Humans Risk Factors Sample Size
A key notion that has received much attention in epidemiology over the past few years has been that not all disease determinants can be conceptualized as individual-level attributes, hence the need to consider features of the groups to which individuals belong when studying the causes of ill health. This has led epidemiologists and public health researchers to rethink the ideas on ecologic studies and ecologic variables traditionally espoused in epidemiology (1–6). This reconceptualization of ecologic or group-level variables has been manifested, for example, in recent interest and debate on the possible health effects of group-level constructs, such as income inequality (7, 8), social capital (9, 10), and neighborhood characteristics (11–14). In this context, the advent of the statistical technique of multilevel models has been viewed as especially promising because of its ability to incorporate both group-level and individual-level predictors in the study of health (4, 15–17).

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Web of Science research areas
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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