Comparison of methods to analyse imprecise faecal coliform count data from environmental samples

被引:3
作者
Carabin, H
Gyorkos, TW
Joseph, L
Payment, P
Soto, JC
机构
[1] McGill Univ, Dept Epidemiol & Biostat, Montreal, PQ, Canada
[2] Montreal Gen Hosp, Div Clin Epidemiol, Montreal, PQ H3G 1A4, Canada
[3] Univ Quebec, Inst Armand Frappier, Virol Lab, Laval, PQ, Canada
[4] Regie Reg Sante & Serv Sociaux Laval, Unite Malad Infect, Direct Sante Publ, Laval, PQ, Canada
关键词
D O I
10.1017/S0950268801005222
中图分类号
R1 [预防医学、卫生学];
学科分类号
1004 [公共卫生与预防医学]; 120402 [社会医学与卫生事业管理];
摘要
Imprecise values arise when bacterial colonies are too numerous to be counted or when no colonies grow at a specific dilution. Our objective was to show the usefulness of multiple imputation in analysing data containing imprecise values. We also indicate that interval censored regression, which is faster computationally in situations where it applies, can be used, providing similar estimates to imputation. We used bacteriological data from a large epidemiological study in daycare centres to illustrate this method and compared it to a standard method which uses single exact values for the imprecise data. The data consisted of numbers of FC on children's and educators' hands, from sandboxes and from playareas. In general, we found that multiple imputation and interval censored regression provided more conservative intervals than the standard method. The discrepancy in the results highlights both the importance of using a method that best captures the uncertainty in the data and how different conclusions might be drawn. This can be crucial for both researchers and those who are involved in formulating and regulating standards for bacteriological contamination.
引用
收藏
页码:181 / 190
页数:10
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