dose-response relationship
dose-response relationship, effect on an organism or, more specifically, on the risk of a defined outcome produced by a given amount of an agent or a level of exposure. A dose-response relationship is one in which increasing levels of exposure are associated with either an increasing or a decreasing risk of the outcome. Demonstration of a dose-response relationship is considered strong evidence for a causal relationship between the exposure and the outcome. The chance of a causal relationship cannot be disregarded, however, even when a dose-response relationship is absent.
Exposure in investigations of dose-response relationships can be characterized in different ways, including peak exposure; duration of exposure at or above a set level; average exposure, which is a time-weighted average of exposure; or cumulative exposure, which is the sum of time-weighted exposures. In any of those instances, the increase in exposure can be in its intensity or its duration.
Dose-response relationships can be affected significantly by time. For example, the time to response when examining the relationship of the exposure to the outcome can be influenced by a latent period between exposure and the outcome. If the effects are measured too soon after the exposure, no effect will be seen, even in the case where the exposure causes the outcome. One example of this is the increased risk of leukemia after exposure to radiation, which can have a latent period of between 2 and 20 years, depending on the nature of the exposure.
Odds ratios and relative risks (measures of association between exposures and outcomes) can be calculated for categories of increasing exposure, where each higher exposure is compared with a baseline exposure level. The mathematical relationship of exposure to outcome may be linear, be log linear, or follow some other pattern. There may be some level of risk even in the absence of exposure, or there may be a threshold dose below which no affect of exposure on risk is seen.
In some cases, the relationship between exposure and outcome may be U-shaped (when plotted as a graph), with high risk at both extremes of exposure and lower risk at intermediate exposures. One example of this is the relationship of vitamin A with birth defects. Increased risk of birth defects is seen not only with deficiency in vitamin A but also with excessive doses.
A statistical test for trend can be performed to verify that any apparent trend in the data for a dose-response relationship is statistically significant. The Cochran-Armitage test, for example, is used to detect trends in a binary outcome (e.g., ill or not ill) and applies to a linear relationship between exposure and outcome. Another example is the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test, an extension of the chi-square test for trend.
Inclusion of small numbers in the groups at the extreme ends of the exposure distribution may lead to statistically unstable rates in those groups, potentially affecting the validity of an apparent trend. Also, the end categories sometimes include extreme values, which can influence the results. For example, very few subjects may be included in a smoking-exposure category labeled “more than two packs per day”—a category that may include a subject with exposures far in excess of anyone else in the study. For that reason, researchers often also examine the effect of extreme values on the results of a dose-response relationship study.
