Latent classes for chemical mixtures analyses in epidemiology: an example using phthalate and phenol exposure biomarkers in pregnant women.

ABSTRACT: Latent class analysis (LCA), although minimally applied to the statistical analysis of mixtures, may serve as a useful tool for identifying individuals with shared real-life profiles of chemical exposures. Knowledge of these groupings and their risk of adverse outcomes has the potential to inform targeted public health prevention strategies. This example applies LCA to identify clusters of pregnant women from a case-control study within the LIFECODES birth cohort with shared exposure patterns across a panel of urinary phthalate metabolites and parabens, and to evaluate the association between cluster membership and urinary oxidative stress biomarkers. LCA identified individuals with: "low exposure," "low phthalates, high parabens," "high phthalates, low parabens," and "high exposure." Clas

SUBMITTER: Carroll R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6917962 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature