PMID: 3770150Mar 1, 1986Paper

Surveillance of birth defects: the Multicommunity Sets Technique tested by computer simulation

European Journal of Epidemiology
G BarbujaniA Russo

Abstract

Using a computer simulation for a series of births subject to various congenital malformations, the surveillance performance of the Multicommunity Sets Technique (MST) was compared to that of the Cumulative Sum Technique (CUSUM). Increases in malformation frequencies were simulated in (i) 6 out of 6 centres and (ii) only 3 out of 6 centres. MST was neither more sensitive nor more specific than CUSUM, and signalled increases with greater delay. One type of CUSUM procedure showed to accumulate more false alarms than MST in long periods of surveillance at the baseline malformation rate. The advantage of CUSUM was also shown for a single malformation with a very low baseline incidence, which according to Chen et al. (1983) should have been particularly suitable for MST surveillance.

References

Jan 1, 1976·Human Heredity·N E Morton, J Lindsten
Jan 1, 1976·British Medical Bulletin·J A Weatherall, J C Haskey
Sep 1, 1968·British Medical Bulletin·G B HillJ A Weatherall

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Birth Defects

Birth defects encompass structural and functional alterations that occur during embryonic or fetal development and are present since birth. The cause may be genetic, environmental or unknown and can result in physical and/or mental impairment. Here is the latest research on birth defects.