Interaction, synergy and antagonism in prospective epidemiological studies

Authors

  • Juan J. Orellana Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Frontera. Temuco, Chile. Centro de Capacitación Investigación y Gestión en Salud para la Medicina Basada en Evidencias (CIGES), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Frontera. Temuco, Chile. Magister en Salud Pública.
  • Jay S. Kaufman Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University. Quebec, Canada. PhD en Epidemiología.
  • Paulina Pino Escuela de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile. Santiago de Chile, Chile. doctor en Salud Pública.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2013.304.253

Keywords:

Methodology, Prospective studies, Statistical analysis, Epidemiology

Abstract

In public health there is a growing appreciation for the advantage of the additive scale to better understand the impacts of factors involved in a health event. It is necessary to always remember that the concept of statistical interaction is scale dependent. In the causal relationship between a response and the presence of two or more factors, the concepts interaction, synergy and antagonism are the key ideas. The aim of this note is to show an application of the concepts interaction, synergy and antagonism in prospective studies from a public health perspective. We present three scenarios that illustrate analyses of interaction, independence, synergy and antagonism. Stata 12 software was used for fitting models (log-binomial model and Poisson) and estimating parameters. Appendixes are provided with concepts and Stata commands used in the processes of simulation and parameter estimation.

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Published

2014-03-11

Issue

Section

Special Section

How to Cite

1.
Orellana JJ, Kaufman JS, Pino P. Interaction, synergy and antagonism in prospective epidemiological studies. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica [Internet]. 2014 Mar. 11 [cited 2024 Mar. 29];30(4). Available from: https://rpmesp.ins.gob.pe/index.php/rpmesp/article/view/253