Introdução- As Leucemias Linfocíticas Agudas (LLA) constituem-se na mais comum das neoplasias em crianças. Alguns estudos epidemiológicos identificaram riscos aumentados de LLA em crianças expostas a campos magnéticos gerados por linhas de força de alta tensão, porém, essa associação não foi confirmada por outros estudos. Objetivo- Verificar a associação entre exposição a campos magnéticos e a incidência da LLA em crianças residentes na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, considerando-se a distância das residências das crianças de linhas de transmissão de energia (88, 138, 230, 345 e 440 kV). Métodos- Estudo casocontrole de base populacional. Os casos foram selecionados em cinco hospitais na capital do município de São Paulo, que concentram o atendimento a crianças com LLA. Quatro controles populacionais foram selecionados para cada caso, emparelhados por sexo, idade e cidade de nascimento. Casos e controles foram entrevistados utilizando-se questionário similar para obtenção de informações sobre as variáveis de interesse e potenciais variáveis de confusão. Os domicílios foram avaliados em relação às distâncias de linhas de transmissão de energia mais próxima utilizando-se o Global Positioning System (GPS). Na análise da associação entre campos magnéticos e LLA foi utilizada regressão logística condicional, incluindo o controle de potenciais variáveis de confusão. Foram calculados os odds ratios (OR) e os respectivos intervalos com 95 por cento de confiança (IC95 por cento). Resultados- A associação entre a distância de linhas de transmissão e LLA foi ajustada pela variável escolaridade da pessoa entrevistada, resultando em OR de 2,91 (IC95 por cento 0,92-9,22). Conclusão- Concluiu-se que, crianças residentes a menos de 160 metros de linhas de transmissão de energia na RMSP apresentam risco maior, porém não estatisticamente significativo de desenvolver LLA quando comparadas com as que residem a mais que 160 metros. / Introduction-The Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancers in children. Some epidemiological studies have identified increased risk of ALL in children exposed to magnetic fields generated by high voltage power lines, however, this association was not confirmed by other studies. Purpose- Check the association between exposure to magnetic fields and the incidence of ALL in children residing in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, considering the distance from childrens home and transmission lines (88, 138, 230, 345 and 440 kV). Methods- A population-based case-control study. The cases were selected in five hospitals in the city of Sao Paulo, which account for the care of children with ALL. Four population controls were selected for each case, matched by sex, age and city of birth. Cases and controls were interviewed using a similar questionnaire to obtain information on the interest variables and potential confounding variables. The homes were evaluated by distances of the nearest transmission lines using the Global Positioning System (GPS). To examine the association between magnetic fields and ALL was used conditional logistic regression, including the control of potential confounding variables. We calculated the odds ratios (OR) and their 95per cent confidence interval (95 per cent CI). Results-The association between the distance of transmission lines and ALL was adjusted by education of the person interviewed, and the OR was 2.91 (95 per cent CI 0.92-9.22). Conclusion- Children living at less than 160 m of power transmission lines in RMSP have higher risk, though not statistically significant, when compared with those living in more than 160 m.

Le mésothéliome pleural est considéré comme très spécifique d’une exposition à l’amiante. Cependant, certains aspects de l’étiologie de cette maladie n’ont pas encore été bien caractérisés. Les objectifs de cette étude sont : i) d’estimer la relation dose-effet entre exposition professionnelle aux fibres d’amiante et survenue de mésothéliome pleural selon différents indicateurs temporels d’exposition ; ii) d’étudier l’effet d’une exposition professionnelle aux laines minérales et aux poussières alvéolaires de silice cristalline libre sur le risque de survenue de mésothéliome pleural et iii) d’identifier les professions et secteurs d’activité à risque de survenue de mésothéliome pleural à partir de données recueillies sur une période de 20 ans. Les cas provenaient de ceux recrutés dans une précédente étude cas-témoins réalisée entre 1987 et 1993 et des cas enregistrés dans le programme national de surveillance du mésothéliome entre 1998 et 2006 (1 199 hommes). Les témoins ont été appariés en fréquence sur l’année de naissance et le sexe (2 378 hommes). L’exposition professionnelle à l’amiante, aux laines minérales et à la silice a été évaluée à partir de matrices emplois-exposition. Les relations dose-effet ont été estimées à l’aide du modèle logistique et leur forme a été obtenue grâce à l’utilisation de fonctions splines cubiques restreintes. Si la relation dose-effet à l’amiante est bien confirmée (particulièrement aux faibles doses), cette étude apporte de nouveaux résultats sur la relation temps-effet (rôle du temps écoulé depuis la dernière exposition ou effet de l’âge à la première exposition). Elle ouvre également de nouvelles perspectives sur le rôle des co-expositions (laines minérales) et permet d’identifier de nouvelles activités à risque, comme les mécaniciens automobiles. / Asbestos exposure is recognized as the primary cause of pleural mesothelioma. However, some aspects of etiology of this disease have not been well characterized. The objective of this study was to elucidate dose-response relationships of temporal pattern of occupational asbestos exposure in males, using case-control data, to study effect of man made vitreous fibers and silica dust on the risk of pleural mesothelioma and finally, to describe occupations and industries at high risk for this cancer among men in France according a period of twenty years of observation. Cases came from a French case-control study conducted in 1987-1993 and from the French National Mesothelioma Surveillance Program in 1998-2006 (1,199 males). Population controls were frequency matched by sex and year of birth (2,378 males). Occupational asbestos exposure was evaluated with a job-exposure matrix. The dose-response relationships were estimated using logistic regression models and form of this relationship were estimated using restricted cubic spline functions. Dose-response relationship was confirmed (particularly for lowest doses). However, this study provides new results about time-effect relationships (role of time since last exposure or effect of age at first exposure). This study opens up new prospects on the role of co-exposure (mineral wool) and permit to identify new activities at risk for pleural mésothéliome as motor vehicle mechanics.

No description available.

Contexte: L’iode est un micronutriment provenant des aliments. Il est établi que, dans les régions d'endémie goitreuse caractérisées par un apport d'iode insuffisant, l’incidence des goitres et des cancers différenciés de la thyroïde (CDT) de type folliculaire est plus élevée qu'ailleurs. En revanche, l’influence de l’apport alimentaire en iode sur le risque de CDT de type papillaire, forme représentant actuellement plus de 80% des CDTs dans la plupart des pays, ne fait pas l’objet d’un consensus. Il semble cependant que cette incidence soit plus élevée dans les îles du pacifique qu’ailleurs. Par ailleurs, les propriétés de protection redox du sélénium pourraient protéger la glande thyroïdienne et aider à maintenir la production d'hormones thyroïdiennes, mais la relation entre l’apport en sélénium et le CDT n’avait été que très peu étudiée.Objectifs: L’objectif général de ce travail de thèse était d'explorer la relation entre l'apport alimentaire en iode et le risque de CDT. Plus spécifiquement, il s’agissait 1) d’étudier la relation entre l’apport alimentaire en iode et le risque de CDT dans les cinq études cas-témoins du consortium Epi-Thyr, conduites en Nouvelle Calédonie, en Polynésie Française, en France métropolitaine (deux études) et à Cuba; 2) d’étudier l’interaction entre cet apport et quatre polymorphismes nucléotidiques (SNP) identifiés dans la plupart des études d’association pangénomiques (GWAS) comme associés au risque de CDT, ainsi qu’avec les facteurs de risque environnementaux connus ; et 3) d’évaluer l’intérêt du sélénium présent dans les ongles comme un bio-marqueur potentiel du risque de CDT.Matériel et Méthodes: La régression logistique conditionnelle a été utilisée pour analyser la relation entre l'apport alimentaire en iode et le risque de CDT d’abord dans l’étude Cuba incluant 203 cas et 212 témoins, puis dans l’ensemble des cinq études incluant au total 2162 cas et 2571 témoins. Les questionnaires alimentaires de ces cinq études étaient dérivés de ceux de l’étude de cohorte E3N. Les mesures de l’iode et du sélénium dans les aliments traditionnels polynésiens et cubains avaient été réalisées spécialement pour cette étude. Quatre SNPs avaient été génotypés, dont deux sur le gène FOXE1, un sur le gène ATM et un autre près du gène NKX2-1. Les mesures de l’iode, du sélénium et des autres oligoéléments métalliques avaient été réalisées dans les ongles des sujets de l’étude Polynésie Française.Résultats: Il n’a pas été observée, une association significative entre l’apport alimentaire en iode et le risque de CDT dans l’étude réalisée à Cuba. Dans l'ensemble des cinq études, la majorité des cas et des témoins ont été considérée comme présentant une carence légère en iode selon la classification du Réseau Mondial d'Iode (IGN). Bien que le risque de CDT ne soit pas lié à l'apport alimentaire en iode, ce risque était significativement réduit avec l’augmentation de la consommation de poisson, ceci de manière plus importante dans l'étude réalisée à Cuba que dans les autres. En outre, une augmentation de l’apport alimentaire en iode a été significativement associée à une diminution du risque de CDT uniquement dans l’étude réalisée en Polynésie Française et chez les Polynésiens. Une augmentation significative du risque de CDT associée au nombre de l'allèle mineur (A) du SNP rs965513 près de FOXE1 parmi les sujets qui ont consommé moins d'iode que la médiane dans l'étude réalisée à Cuba. Pour les femmes qui ont eu un nombre de grossesses élevé et qui étaient déficitaires en iode, l'augmentation de l'apport alimentaire en iode réduisait leur risque de CDT. Par ailleurs, il n’a pas été possible de mettre en évidence un intérêt du sélénium dans les ongles comme bio-marqueur prédictif du risque de CDT. / Context: Iodine is a trace element derived from food. In endemic goiter areas characterized by dietary iodine deficiency, it is established that the incidence of goiter and differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) of follicular type is higher than elsewhere. On the other hand, the influence of dietary iodine intake in the risk of papillary thyroid cancer which currently representing more than 80% of DTCs in most countries, has not achieved a consensus. It appears, however, that this incidence is higher in the Pacific islands than elsewhere. In addition, the redox protection properties of selenium could protect the thyroid gland and help to maintain the production of thyroid hormones, but few studies evaluated the relationship between selenium intake and DTC.Objectives: The general objective of this thesis was to explore the relationship between dietary iodine intake and DTC risk. More specifically, it was 1) to study the relationship between dietary iodine intake and the risk of DTC in five case-control studies of Epi-Thyr consortium, carried out in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Metropolitan France (two studies) and Cuba; 2) to investigate the interaction between this intake and four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) identified in most genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as associated with DTC risk, as well as the interaction with the well-established environmental risk factors; and 3) to evaluate the benefit of selenium present in fingernails as a potential bio-marker of DTC risk.Materials and Methods: Conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between dietary iodine intake and DTC risk first in the Cuba study including 203 cases and 212 controls, and then in the pooled analysis of the five studies including a total of 2162 cases and 2571 controls. The dietary questionnaires of these five studies were derived from those in the E3N cohort study. Measurements of iodine and selenium in traditional Polynesian and Cuban foods were specifically carried out for this pooled analysis. Four SNPs were genotyped, including two of FOXE1 gene, one of ATM gene and another near NKX2-1 gene. Measurements of iodine, selenium and other metal trace elements were made in the fingernails of the participants of the French Polynesia study.Results: There was no significant association between dietary iodine intake and DTC risk in the Cuba study. In the pooled analysis of the five studies, the majority of the cases and the controls was considered as being in mild dietary iodine deficiency according to the IGN classification. Although DTC risk was not found to be linked to dietary iodine intake, this risk significantly decreased with high fish consumption, this reduction in DTC risk per quartile of fish consumption was more important in the Cuba study than in the other studies. Additionally, higher dietary iodine intake significantly associated with lower DTC risk only in the French Polynesia study and in Polynesians. A strong increase in DTC risk associated with the number of the minor allele (A) of the SNP rs965513 near FOXE1, among participants who consumed less iodine than the median value in the Cuba study. For the women who had a high number of full term pregnancies and who were iodine deficient, increasing dietary iodine intake may reduce their risk of suffering from DTC. Moreover, it was not possible to demonstrate an interest in fingernail selenium as a biomarker that predicts DTC risk.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess risk factors associated with TB co-infection in HIV/AIDS patients taking antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methodology: An observational, analytic, case-control and quantitative study was conducted on a randomly selected 367 HIV and AIDS patients of whom 92 of them were TB co-infected. Data collection was done by using self-structured questionnaire. Result: In this study, educational status, waste disposal system, monthly income, contact history with a patient of active tuberculosis or presence of a family member with active tuberculosis, drug adherence, knowledge on tuberculosis prevention and history of exposure to substance were factors independently associated with the occurrence of active tuberculosis among HIV and Aids patients taking ART. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for on-going educational, informational and other interventions to address the risk factors of tuberculosis in HIV and Aids patients in order to decrease the rate of TB co-infection / Health Studies / M.A. Public Health

No description available.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Lyme disease is an emerging tick-borne illness in Canada, with human case numbers increasing 15- to 20-fold since Lyme disease became nationally notifiable in 2009 until the present. In Ontario, Canada's largest province by population, average Lyme disease incidence across the province is similar to that of national estimates. However, in eastern Ontario, which is near tick endemic regions in the northeastern Unites States, Lyme disease incidence is disproportionately higher compared to the rest of the province. The objectives of this thesis are to identify environmental Lyme disease risk areas in Ontario, to explore spatiotemporal trends in Lyme disease emergence, and to identify neighbourhood-level socioecological risk factors for Lyme disease. In addition, this thesis also aims to assess the risk of other tick-borne illnesses that are transmitted by the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which is also the main vector for Lyme disease in Canada. Using maximum entropy species distribution modelling to correlate blacklegged tick occurrence data with environmental variables, predictive risk models for I. scapularis and the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi, were developed. The model prediction was used to classify low and high environment risk areas and, using a case-control epidemiological study, we assessed that residence in risk areas was a strong predictor of Lyme disease. However, this relationship was modulated by socioecological factors linked to higher overall rurality of the locality of home residence. Spatial cluster analyses further revealed that human Lyme disease cases clustered in regions with the high numbers of reported B. burgdorferi-infected ticks in the environment. Many individuals residing in large metropolitan regions, like the City of Ottawa, reported tick exposures outside their public health unit of residence; however, local clusters of Lyme disease were also detected in suburban regions near conservation areas, trails, and urban woodlands. The prevalence of other tick-borne pathogens was low, although several pathogens of public health significance including Borrelia miyamotoi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum were detected at multiple sites surveyed for ticks between 2017-2021. Overall, this thesis identify patterns in Lyme disease emergence (and potentially other tick-borne illnesses), defines environmental risk areas for Lyme disease in Ontario, and highlights important socioecological risk factors for Lyme disease in eastern Ontario.

Contexte. L’insuffisance cardiaque (IC) touche 1 à 2% de la population et sa prévalence menace d’augmenter dans la population vieillissante. L’IC et ses nombreux facteurs de risque ont une forte composante héréditaire. Il existe plusieurs phénotypes d’IC qui se démarquent par leurs mécanismes physiopathologiques et leur pronostic. Objectif. Ce mémoire vise dans un premier temps à faire état des connaissances actuelles sur la pharmacogénomique de l’IC et, dans un deuxième temps, à décrire une cohorte de patients atteints d’IC montée dans la cadre d’une étude cas-contrôle. Les caractéristiques descriptives de différents sous-groupes de patients sont présentées et comparées avec les données épidémiologiques actuelles. Résultats. 829 patients atteints d’IC qui ont participé au projet de la Biobanque de l’Institut de cardiologie de Montréal étaient éligibles à notre étude. L’âge moyen de ces cas est de 66,1 ± 10,2 ans et 76,6% sont des hommes. La fraction d’éjection du ventricule gauche (FEVG) médiane est 38% (intervalle interquartile : 28–52%) et 55,0% des cas sont d’étiologie ischémique. L’IC à FEVG réduite représente 55,4% des sujets; les phénotypes d’IC à FEVG intermédiaire et préservée représentent 11,2% et 33,4%, respectivement. Conclusion. Le phénotype d’IC à FEVG préservée est sous-représenté dans notre cohorte par rapport à ce qui est décrit dans la littérature scientifique, avec un nombre plus élevé d’hommes et l’étiologie ischémique majoritaire. Ceci s’explique par le fait que l’Institut de cardiologie est un centre référent de greffe. Toutefois, les caractéristiques des principaux phénotypes d’IC concordent avec la littérature scientifique, ce qui suggère que les phénotypes d’IC dans notre cohorte sont représentatifs de ces sous-populations. / Context. Heart failure (HF) affects 1 to 2% of the population and its prevalence is expected to increase in the aging population. Recent evidence suggests that HF and associated risk factors are heritable. HF has multiple phenotypes each associated with different risk factors, pathophysiology and prognosis. Objective. This project presents the current knowledge on HF pharmacogenomics found in the scientific literature and describes a cohort of HF patients who participated in a case-control study. The characteristics of different subgroups are presented and compared to current epidemiologic data. Results. We recruited 829 HF patients who participated in the Montreal Heart Institute biobank project. The mean age is 66,1 ± 10,2 years and 76,6% are male. The median left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is 38% (interquartile range: 28–52%) and ischemic etiology accounts for 55,0% of HF cases. The HF with a reduced LVEF phenotype represents 55,4% of participants while 11,2% and 33,4% of cases have HF with a mid-range LVEF and HF with a preserved LVEF, respectively. Conclusion. The HF with a preserved LVEF phenotype was underrepresented in our cohort compared to what is expected in the scientific literature. We report more men and ischemic etiology, which could be explained by the fact that the Montreal Heart Institute is a reference center for transplantation. Characteristics of the major HF phenotypes are consistent with those reported in the scientific literature, thus suggesting that our cohort is representative of these sub-groups.

本文主要在探討自變數存在有測量誤差時，邏輯式迴歸模型的估計問題，並設計實驗使得測量誤差能滿足遞減假設，進一步應用序貫分析方法，在給定水準下，建立一個信賴範圍。 當自變數存在有測量誤差時，通常會得到有偏誤的估計量，進而在做決策時會得到與無測量誤差所做出的決策不同。在本文中提出了一個遞減的測量誤差，使得滿足這樣的假設，可以證明估計量的強收斂，並證明與無測量誤差所得到的估計量相同的近似分配。相較於先前的假設，特別是證明大樣本的性質，新增加的樣本會有更小的測量誤差是更加合理的假設。我們同時設計了一個實驗來滿足所提出遞減誤差的條件，並利用序貫設計得到一個更省時也節省成本的處理方法。 一般的case-control實驗，自變數也會出現測量誤差，我們也證明了斜率估計量的強收斂與近似分配的性質，並提出一個二階段抽樣方法，計算出所需的樣本數及建立信賴區間。 / In this thesis, we focus on the estimate of unknown parameters, experimental designs and sequential methods in both prospective and retrospective logistic regression models when there are covariates measured with errors. The imprecise measurement of exposure happens very often in practice, for example, in retrospective epidemiology studies, that may due to either the difficulty or the cost of measuring. It is known that the imprecisely measured variables can result in biased coefficients estimation in a regression model and therefore, it may lead to an incorrect inference. Thus, it is an important issue if the effects of the variables are of primary interest. When considering a prospective logistic regression model, we derive asymptotic results for the estimators of the regression parameters when there are mismeasured covariates. If the measurement error satisfies certain assumptions, we show that the estimators follow the normal distribution with zero mean, asymptotically unbiased and asymptotically normally distributed. Contrary to the traditional assumption on measurement error, which is mainly used for proving large sample properties, we assume that the measurement error decays gradually at a certain rate as there is a new observation added to the model. This kind of assumption can be fulfilled when the usual replicate observation method is used to dilute the magnitude of measurement errors, and therefore, is also more useful in practical viewpoint. Moreover, the independence of measurement error and covariate is not required in our theorems. An experimental design with measurement error satisfying the required degenerating rate is introduced. In addition, this assumption allows us to employ sequential sampling, which is popular in clinical trials, to such a measurement error logistic regression model. It is clear that the sequential method cannot be applied based on the assumption that the measurement errors decay uniformly as sample size increasing as in the most of the literature. Therefore, a sequential estimation procedure based on MLEs and such moment conditions is proposed and can be shown to be asymptotical consistent and efficient. Case-control studies are broadly used in clinical trials and epidemiological studies. It can be showed that the odds ratio can be consistently estimated with some exposure variables based on logistic models (see Prentice and Pyke (1979)). The two-stage case-control sampling scheme is employed for a confidence region of slope coefficient beta. A necessary sample size is calculated by a given pre-determined level. Furthermore, we consider the measurement error in the covariates of a case-control retrospective logistic regression model. We also derive some asymptotic results of the maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) of the regression coefficients under some moment conditions on measurement errors. Under such kinds of moment conditions of measurement errors, the MLEs can be shown to be strongly consistent, asymptotically unbiased and asymptotically normally distributed. Some simulation results of the proposed two-stage procedures are obtained. We also give some numerical studies and real data to verify the theoretical results in different measurement error scenarios.