Kenneth J Rothman
Biographic Data
| ID | 4877568 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kenneth J Rothman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kenneth J |
| FAMILY NAME | Rothman |
| SIGNATURE | ROTHMAN K J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Boston University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2398-1705 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1980 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A Prospective Study of Male Depression, Psychotropic Medication Use, and Fecundability
We examined the associations of male depression and psychotropic medication use with fecundability in a North American preconception cohort study (2013–2020). Men aged ≥21 years completed a baseline questionnaire with questions on history of diagnosed depression, the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), and psychotropic medication use. Pregnancy status was updated via bimonthly female follow-up questionnaires until pregnancy or 12 menstrual cycles, …
The association between first and second wave Covid-19 mortality in Italy
These findings indicate that provinces with the most severe initial COVID-19 outbreaks, as assessed through mortality data, faced milder second waves
Marijuana use and fecundability in a North American preconception cohort study
BACKGROUND: The influence of marijuana use on human fertility has not been well studied. We evaluated the association between female and male use of marijuana and fecundability in Pregnancy Study Online, a prospective cohort of North American couples. METHODS: Female participants completed a baseline questionnaire on which they reported lifestyle and behavioural factors, including frequency of marijuana use within the previous 2 months. Male part…
Statistical tests, P values, confidence intervals, and power: A guide to misinterpretations
Misinterpretation and abuse of statistical tests, confidence intervals, and statistical power have been decried for decades, yet remain rampant. A key problem is that there are no interpretations of these concepts that are at once simple, intuitive, correct, and foolproof. Instead, correct use and interpretation of these statistics requires an attention to detail which seems to tax the patience of working scientists. This high cognitive demand ha…
Why representativeness should be avoided
The essence of knowledge is generalisation. That rubbing wood in a certain way can produce fire is a knowledge derived by generalisation from individual experiences; the statement means that rubbing wood in this way will always produce fire. The art of discovery is therefore the art of correct generalisation. What is irrelevant, such as the particular shape or size of the piece of wood used, is to be excluded from the generalisation; what is rele…
Epidural Analgesia and Risks of Cesarean and Operative Vaginal Deliveries in Nulliparous and Multiparous Women
BMI-related errors in the measurement of obesity
Increasing Levels of Restriction in Pharmacoepidemiologic Database Studies of Elderly and Comparison With Randomized Trial Results
BACKGROUND: The goal of restricting study populations is to make patients more homogeneous regarding potential confounding factors and treatment effects and thereby achieve less biased effect estimates. OBJECTIVES: This article describes increasing levels of restrictions for use in pharmacoepidemiology and examines to what extent they change rate ratio estimates and reduce bias in a study of statin treatment and 1-year mortality. METHODS: : The s…
Adjustments for Unmeasured Confounders in Pharmacoepidemiologic Database Studies Using External Information
BACKGROUND: Nonexperimental studies of drug effects in large automated databases can provide timely assessment of real-life drug use, but are prone to confounding by variables that are not contained in these databases and thus cannot be controlled. OBJECTIVES: To describe how information on additional confounders from validation studies can help address the problem of unmeasured confounding in the main study. RESEARCH DESIGN: Review types of vali…
Variable Selection for Propensity Score Models
Despite the growing popularity of propensity score (PS) methods in epidemiology, relatively little has been written in the epidemiologic literature about the problem of variable selection for PS models. The authors present the results of two simulation studies designed to help epidemiologists gain insight into the variable selection problem in a PS analysis. The simulation studies illustrate how the choice of variables that are included in a PS m…
Apgar score and hospitalization for epilepsy in childhood: A registry-based cohort study
Background A depressed Apgar score at 5 minutes is a marker for perinatal insults, including neurologic damage. We examined the association between 5-minute Apgar score and the risk of epilepsy hospitalization in childhood. Methods Using records linked from population registries, we conducted a cohort study among singleton children born alive in the period 1978–2001 in North Jutland County, Denmark. The first hospital discharge diagnosis of epile…
Causation and Causal Inference in Epidemiology
Concepts of cause and causal inference are largely self-taught from early learning experiences. A model of causation that describes causes in terms of sufficient causes and their component causes illuminates important principles such as multicausality, the dependence of the strength of component causes on the prevalence of complementary component causes, and interaction between component causes. Philosophers agree that causal propositions cannot …
Lymphatic and haematopoietic cancer mortality in a population attending school adjacent to styrene-butadiene facilities, 1963-1993
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of mortality from lymphatic and haematopoietic cancers and other causes among students. DESIGN: The study used school records, yearbooks, and Texas Department of Health records for the school years 1963-64 to 1992-93 to construct a cohort of 15,403 students. Three mortality databases were searched to identify deaths, and mortality rates in the cohort were compared with mortality rates from the United States a…
Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care
Journal Article Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care. By David J. Rothman. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. xiv, 189 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-19-511118-4.) Get access Thomas R. Oliver Thomas R. Oliver Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 85, Issue 4, March 1999, Pages 1682–1683, https://doi.org…
Our conscientious objection to the epidemiology wars
Crossing Frontiers: Gerontology Emerges as a Science . Andrew W. Achenbaum
Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America before the Second World War . Susan E. Lederer
Longevity of jazz musicians: Flawed analysis
Longevity of jazz musicians: flawed analysis. K J RothmanCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.82.5.761 Published Online: October 07, 2011
No Adjustments Are Needed for Multiple Comparisons
Adjustments for making multiple comparisons in large bodies of data are recommended to avoid rejecting the null hypothesis too readily. Unfortunately, reducing the type I error for null associations increases the type II error for those associations that are not null. The theoretical basis for advocating a routine adjustment for multiple comparisons is the "universal null hypothesis" that "chance" serves as the first-order explanation for observe…
Carcinogenicity of dark liquor
To investigate whether the non-alcohol content of distilled alcoholic beverages affects the carcinogenicity of the beverage, we conducted an epidemiologic study of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer. We interviewed 384 cases (or spouses, for deceased cases), and compared their responses with those of 876 controls. We classed distilled liquors as dark or light, a rough division according to content of potentially carcinogenic compounds in the bev…
Tobacco habits
Tobacco habits. K J RothmanCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.76.2.133 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Science and policy making
Science and policy making. K J Rothman, and C PooleCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.75.4.340 Published Online: October 07, 2011
The Willowbrook Wars
Journal Article The Willowbrook Wars. By David J. Rothman and Sheila M. Rothman. (New York: Harper and Row, 1984. x + 405 pp. Notes, sources and methods, and index. $27.95.) Get access Edward Berkowitz Edward Berkowitz George Washington University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 72, Issue 1, June 1985, Pages 201–202, https://doi.org/10.2307/1903832 Published: 01 June 198…
IRBs and Epidemiologic Research: How Inappropriate Restrictions Hamper Studies
Gusella, J., Wexler, N., Conneally, P., Naylor S., et. al.: A polymorphic DNA marker genetically linked to Huntington's Nature, 306:234-238, November 17, 1983. 2Commission for the Control of Huntington's Disease and its Consequences: Report: Volume II Techincal Report, DHEW Pub. No. (NIH) 78-1502, Washington, D.C., 1977. 3Commission for the Control of Huntington's Disease and its Consequences: Report: Volume I: Overview, DHEW Pub. No. (NIH) 78-15…
Dr. Rothman's Reply
Dr. Rothman's Reply Kenneth J. Rothman William H. Foege CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.72.9.1048 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Causation and Causal Inference in Epidemiology
Concepts of cause and causal inference are largely self-taught from early learning experiences. A model of causation that describes causes in terms of sufficient causes and their component causes illuminates important principles such as multicausality, the dependence of the strength of component causes on the prevalence of complementary component causes, and interaction between component causes. Philosophers agree that causal propositions cannot …
Science and policy making
Science and policy making. K J Rothman, and C PooleCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.75.4.340 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Our conscientious objection to the epidemiology wars
The incidence and severity of burn injuries following Project Burn Prevention
Project Burn Prevention, an educational program about burn safety, was implemented in the Greater Boston area from October 1977 through May 1978. The program consisted of three components: a media campaign, a school-initiated intervention, and a community-initiated intervention. Estimates of burn incidence and severity of injury because of scald, flame, electrical or contact burns, or smoke inhalation were made on all patients coming to target- o…
Spermicide use and Down's syndrome
A connection has been suggested between use of vaginal spermicides and the occurrence of Down's syndrome among offspring born to women who used these contraceptive agents. This hypothesis was evaluated with data from a case-control study of congenital heart disease, which included among the subjects 16 infants with Down's syndrome. The estimated ratio of the proportion of Down's syndrome births among spermicide users to the proportion in non-user…
Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care
Journal Article Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care. By David J. Rothman. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. xiv, 189 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-19-511118-4.) Get access Thomas R. Oliver Thomas R. Oliver Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 85, Issue 4, March 1999, Pages 1682–1683, https://doi.org…
The epidemic of endometrial cancer: A commentary
Vital statistics show that a rise in incidence of endometrial cancer began in the mid-1960s on the West Coast of the United States. This rise was continuous and reached a peak in 1975. Elsewhere, incidence rates for endometrial cancer rose during the 1970s. It now seems evident that much of the rise in all areas of the country was due to replacement estrogen treatment. We estimated from data obtained from the Commission on Professional and Hospit…
An independent analysis of the National Cancer Institute study on non-nutritive sweeteners and bladder cancer
We evaluated the possible relation between use of non-nutritive sweeteners and bladder cancer using data obtained from the National Cancer Institute Bladder Cancer Study under the Freedom of Information Act. In the general study group, there was no evidence for an association between non-nutritive sweeteners and bladder cancer. Control for a variety of factors through multivariate techniques diminished the plausibility of earlier interpretations …
Longevity of jazz musicians: Flawed analysis
Longevity of jazz musicians: flawed analysis. K J RothmanCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.82.5.761 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Occupational risk for laryngeal cancer
In a case-control analysis, we studied the effects of type of employment on laryngeal cancer risk using the interview data from the Third National Cancer Survey. Effects were measured relative to the risk for those employed in a group of arbitrarily defined industries and occupations with low risk. We excluded females and controlled for age, tobacco use, alcohol use, and race in the analysis. We found ratio estimates above 3.0 for workers in the …
Lymphatic and haematopoietic cancer mortality in a population attending school adjacent to styrene-butadiene facilities, 1963-1993
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of mortality from lymphatic and haematopoietic cancers and other causes among students. DESIGN: The study used school records, yearbooks, and Texas Department of Health records for the school years 1963-64 to 1992-93 to construct a cohort of 15,403 students. Three mortality databases were searched to identify deaths, and mortality rates in the cohort were compared with mortality rates from the United States a…
The epidemic of endometrial cancer: A commentary
Vital statistics show that a rise in incidence of endometrial cancer began in the mid-1960s on the West Coast of the United States. This rise was continuous and reached a peak in 1975. Elsewhere, incidence rates for endometrial cancer rose during the 1970s. It now seems evident that much of the rise in all areas of the country was due to replacement estrogen treatment. We estimated from data obtained from the Commission on Professional and Hospit…
Dr. Rothman's Reply
Dr. Rothman's Reply Kenneth J. Rothman William H. Foege CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.72.9.1048 Published Online: October 07, 2011
An independent analysis of the National Cancer Institute study on non-nutritive sweeteners and bladder cancer
We evaluated the possible relation between use of non-nutritive sweeteners and bladder cancer using data obtained from the National Cancer Institute Bladder Cancer Study under the Freedom of Information Act. In the general study group, there was no evidence for an association between non-nutritive sweeteners and bladder cancer. Control for a variety of factors through multivariate techniques diminished the plausibility of earlier interpretations …
Occupational risk for laryngeal cancer
In a case-control analysis, we studied the effects of type of employment on laryngeal cancer risk using the interview data from the Third National Cancer Survey. Effects were measured relative to the risk for those employed in a group of arbitrarily defined industries and occupations with low risk. We excluded females and controlled for age, tobacco use, alcohol use, and race in the analysis. We found ratio estimates above 3.0 for workers in the …
Spermicide use and Down's syndrome
A connection has been suggested between use of vaginal spermicides and the occurrence of Down's syndrome among offspring born to women who used these contraceptive agents. This hypothesis was evaluated with data from a case-control study of congenital heart disease, which included among the subjects 16 infants with Down's syndrome. The estimated ratio of the proportion of Down's syndrome births among spermicide users to the proportion in non-user…
The incidence and severity of burn injuries following Project Burn Prevention
Project Burn Prevention, an educational program about burn safety, was implemented in the Greater Boston area from October 1977 through May 1978. The program consisted of three components: a media campaign, a school-initiated intervention, and a community-initiated intervention. Estimates of burn incidence and severity of injury because of scald, flame, electrical or contact burns, or smoke inhalation were made on all patients coming to target- o…
IRBs and Epidemiologic Research: How Inappropriate Restrictions Hamper Studies
Gusella, J., Wexler, N., Conneally, P., Naylor S., et. al.: A polymorphic DNA marker genetically linked to Huntington's Nature, 306:234-238, November 17, 1983. 2Commission for the Control of Huntington's Disease and its Consequences: Report: Volume II Techincal Report, DHEW Pub. No. (NIH) 78-1502, Washington, D.C., 1977. 3Commission for the Control of Huntington's Disease and its Consequences: Report: Volume I: Overview, DHEW Pub. No. (NIH) 78-15…
Science and policy making
Science and policy making. K J Rothman, and C PooleCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.75.4.340 Published Online: October 07, 2011
The Willowbrook Wars
Journal Article The Willowbrook Wars. By David J. Rothman and Sheila M. Rothman. (New York: Harper and Row, 1984. x + 405 pp. Notes, sources and methods, and index. $27.95.) Get access Edward Berkowitz Edward Berkowitz George Washington University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 72, Issue 1, June 1985, Pages 201–202, https://doi.org/10.2307/1903832 Published: 01 June 198…
Tobacco habits
Tobacco habits. K J RothmanCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.76.2.133 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Carcinogenicity of dark liquor
To investigate whether the non-alcohol content of distilled alcoholic beverages affects the carcinogenicity of the beverage, we conducted an epidemiologic study of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer. We interviewed 384 cases (or spouses, for deceased cases), and compared their responses with those of 876 controls. We classed distilled liquors as dark or light, a rough division according to content of potentially carcinogenic compounds in the bev…
No Adjustments Are Needed for Multiple Comparisons
Adjustments for making multiple comparisons in large bodies of data are recommended to avoid rejecting the null hypothesis too readily. Unfortunately, reducing the type I error for null associations increases the type II error for those associations that are not null. The theoretical basis for advocating a routine adjustment for multiple comparisons is the "universal null hypothesis" that "chance" serves as the first-order explanation for observe…
Longevity of jazz musicians: Flawed analysis
Longevity of jazz musicians: flawed analysis. K J RothmanCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.82.5.761 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Crossing Frontiers: Gerontology Emerges as a Science . Andrew W. Achenbaum
Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America before the Second World War . Susan E. Lederer
Our conscientious objection to the epidemiology wars
Lymphatic and haematopoietic cancer mortality in a population attending school adjacent to styrene-butadiene facilities, 1963-1993
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of mortality from lymphatic and haematopoietic cancers and other causes among students. DESIGN: The study used school records, yearbooks, and Texas Department of Health records for the school years 1963-64 to 1992-93 to construct a cohort of 15,403 students. Three mortality databases were searched to identify deaths, and mortality rates in the cohort were compared with mortality rates from the United States a…
Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care
Journal Article Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care. By David J. Rothman. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. xiv, 189 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-19-511118-4.) Get access Thomas R. Oliver Thomas R. Oliver Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 85, Issue 4, March 1999, Pages 1682–1683, https://doi.org…
Causation and Causal Inference in Epidemiology
Concepts of cause and causal inference are largely self-taught from early learning experiences. A model of causation that describes causes in terms of sufficient causes and their component causes illuminates important principles such as multicausality, the dependence of the strength of component causes on the prevalence of complementary component causes, and interaction between component causes. Philosophers agree that causal propositions cannot …
Variable Selection for Propensity Score Models
Despite the growing popularity of propensity score (PS) methods in epidemiology, relatively little has been written in the epidemiologic literature about the problem of variable selection for PS models. The authors present the results of two simulation studies designed to help epidemiologists gain insight into the variable selection problem in a PS analysis. The simulation studies illustrate how the choice of variables that are included in a PS m…
Apgar score and hospitalization for epilepsy in childhood: A registry-based cohort study
Background A depressed Apgar score at 5 minutes is a marker for perinatal insults, including neurologic damage. We examined the association between 5-minute Apgar score and the risk of epilepsy hospitalization in childhood. Methods Using records linked from population registries, we conducted a cohort study among singleton children born alive in the period 1978–2001 in North Jutland County, Denmark. The first hospital discharge diagnosis of epile…
Increasing Levels of Restriction in Pharmacoepidemiologic Database Studies of Elderly and Comparison With Randomized Trial Results
BACKGROUND: The goal of restricting study populations is to make patients more homogeneous regarding potential confounding factors and treatment effects and thereby achieve less biased effect estimates. OBJECTIVES: This article describes increasing levels of restrictions for use in pharmacoepidemiology and examines to what extent they change rate ratio estimates and reduce bias in a study of statin treatment and 1-year mortality. METHODS: : The s…
Adjustments for Unmeasured Confounders in Pharmacoepidemiologic Database Studies Using External Information
BACKGROUND: Nonexperimental studies of drug effects in large automated databases can provide timely assessment of real-life drug use, but are prone to confounding by variables that are not contained in these databases and thus cannot be controlled. OBJECTIVES: To describe how information on additional confounders from validation studies can help address the problem of unmeasured confounding in the main study. RESEARCH DESIGN: Review types of vali…
BMI-related errors in the measurement of obesity
Epidural Analgesia and Risks of Cesarean and Operative Vaginal Deliveries in Nulliparous and Multiparous Women
Medicine (24 works) · Internal Medicine (12 works) · Internal Medicine (11 works) · Environmental health (10 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Confidence interval (8 works) · Demography (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Statistics (6 works) · Cohort study (5 works)