Biostatistics 1:89-105 (2000)
© 2000 Oxford University Press
Point-source modelling using matched case-control data
1 Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
2 Department of Epidemiology and Public
Health, Imperial College School of Medicine, London, UK
We describe an extension to matched case-control studies of the parametric modelling framework developed by Diggle (1990) and Diggle and Rowlingson (1994) to investigate raised risk around putative sources of environmental pollution. We use a conditional likelihood approach for the family of risk functions considered in Diggle and Rowlingson (1994). We show that the likelihood surface that results from these models may be highly irregular, and provide a Bayesian analysis in which we investigate the posterior distribution using Markov chain Monte Carlo. An analysis of one-one matched data that were collected to investigate the relationship between respiratory disease and distance to roads in East London is presented.
Keywords: Bayes factors; Environmental epidemiology; Point process modelling; Point sources of risk; Matched case-control studies