Epidemiology beyond its limits.
systematic_review · Level I
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35675391.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abn3328 and PMC identifier 9176748.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In 1995, journalist Gary Taubes published an article in <i>Science</i> titled "Epidemiology faces its limits," which questioned the utility of nonrandomized epidemiologic research and has since been cited more than 1000 times. He highlighted numerous examples of research topics he viewed as having questionable merit. Studies have since accumulated for these associations. We systematically evaluated current evidence of 53 example associations discussed in the article. Approximately one-quarter of those presented as doubtful are now widely viewed as causal based on current evaluations of the public health consensus. They include associations between alcohol consumption and breast cancer, residential radon exposure and lung cancer, and the use of tanning devices and melanoma. This history should inform current debates about the reproducibility of epidemiologic research results.