Reseach Method Gulf War veterans have reported a variety of illnesses during and

Question

Reseach Method

Gulf War veterans have reported a variety of illnesses during and after their deployment to the Persian Gulf. Suppose we suspect that these veterans were exposed to potentially carcinogenic chemicals, which have not been identified. Therefore, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to examine the effect of deployment to the Persian Gulf in 1990-1991 on cancer incidence. The exposed group consisted of all U.S. military personnel veterans who were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990-1991 and were still alive at the end of the Gulf War. The unexposed group was selected in 2010 from surviving U.S. military veterans who were in the military sometime between 1990 and 1991, but were stationed in locations other than the Persian Gulf during that time period. Cancer incidence for both groups was determined from physician examinations conducted routinely from 2010-2013 and medical records from the 1990s-2010. The study reported that the rate of cancer among those deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990-1991 was approximately 20% more likely than among those in the unexposed group. What is an alternative explanation for these findings?

Explanation / Answer

The alternative explanation for these findings is the fact that certain other factors may have contributed to these results such as; age at the expression of certain oncogenes; is related to the age and increased levels of stress or the genetic predispositions or the effect of small sample size.   

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