Cohort Study

The report indicated that there were study participants that left the study during the 10-year monitoring period as they relocated to another country . The usual reason behind such migration is that the study participants were financially capable of leaving the country to find better areas to live in . In addition , individuals from the higher income bracket have easier access and more choice with regards to food items , including more fruits and vegetables for their daily diet . This capacity may decrease the chances of an individual to develop cancer and other cardiopulmonary

conditions

Assessment of Confounders

The quality of air within the home may pose as a confounding factor that was not analyzed by the investigators . The study concentrated on the outside air pollution , while there was no analysis of the quality of air in the homes of these study participants . It may thus be possible that some of the mortalities were actually caused by the poor quality of air within their homes , or possibly the occurrence of smoking inside the house (Pope et al , 2002 . The quality and condition of the homes , such as the presence of asbestos in the walls , may also influence the frequency of cardiopulmonary and cancer cases in the study population

Comments

The study provided a comprehensive assessment of the link between air pollution and the incidence of cardiopulmonary diseases and lung cancer in The Netherlands . Although there have been previous studies on this in the same country , this research report provided a more detailed of the association , as well as provided a bigger study population (Beelen et al , 2007 . The report thus serves as a validation of previous reports on a larger scale

References

Beelen , R , Hoek , G , van den Brandt ,

.A , Goldbohm , R .A , Fischer ,

br Schouten , L .J , Jerrett , M , Hughes , E...