Question

Epidemiology _April a

Highlight the usefulness of structural equation modelling in the epidemiological studies.

Answer 1

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is an important statistical tool which is used in several research areas around the world to detect and evaluate complex associations or relationships. With the increasing availability of user-friendly computer tools, it has allowed the implementation of structural equation modeling in the most sophisticated way. Due to this reason, there has been a widespread use of SEM in different research areas, epidemiology being one of them.

Recently, SEM has been used in the healthcare sector to develop various causal models for the relationship between the quality of life in patients suffering from cancer and symptoms. Another example is the use of SEM and multiple linear modeling is being used to evaluate the impact of breastfeeding on cognitive functions in children. Also, there are numerous other examples like the effect of smoking during pregnancy on the child birth weight which has shown a negative association between the two variables, testing a hypothesis model of causal pathways related to chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes etc.

There are thousands of other examples in which SEM is used in epidemiology which can't be listed here. Combining the aspects from multiple regression and factor analysis with modeling leads to a series of relations which can be of greater importance to improve healthcare & quality of life.