TY - JOUR
T1 - Medical causation analysis heuristics
AU - Harber, Philip
AU - Shusterman, Dennis
PY - 1996/6/1
Y1 - 1996/6/1
N2 - Medical causation analysis determines whether or not a specific patient's illness is the result of a work site or an environmental exposure. In the past, this has been conducted implicitly with little analysis of the process per se. Our review suggests that there are several distinct heuristics that may be utilized; these include probability-based models, application of group-based data (epidemiology) to individuals, Bayesian analysis, a priori assumptions about which conclusions are better, and others. Some methods consider only work causes, whereas others explicitly consider alternative explanations. There are considerable differences among the methods in process, outcome, and fundamental assumptions. Formal assessment of the medical causation analysis process can provide insight and may ultimately lead to its standardization and improvement.
AB - Medical causation analysis determines whether or not a specific patient's illness is the result of a work site or an environmental exposure. In the past, this has been conducted implicitly with little analysis of the process per se. Our review suggests that there are several distinct heuristics that may be utilized; these include probability-based models, application of group-based data (epidemiology) to individuals, Bayesian analysis, a priori assumptions about which conclusions are better, and others. Some methods consider only work causes, whereas others explicitly consider alternative explanations. There are considerable differences among the methods in process, outcome, and fundamental assumptions. Formal assessment of the medical causation analysis process can provide insight and may ultimately lead to its standardization and improvement.
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U2 - 10.1097/00043764-199606000-00008
DO - 10.1097/00043764-199606000-00008
M3 - Article
C2 - 8794956
AN - SCOPUS:0029976794
VL - 38
SP - 577
EP - 586
JO - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JF - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
SN - 1076-2752
IS - 6
ER -