In: Statistics and Probability
It is thought that children who attend daycare centers build a more robust immune system because they are exposed to more germs. A study by Gilham et al (2005) examined whether there was a relationship between attending daycare and the probability of later developing the white blood cell disease Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). They compared 1272 children with ALL to 6238 children without ALL. Of the kids with All, 1020 went to daycare. Of the kids without ALL, 5343 went to day care. The rest of the children did not go to daycare or have regular contact with other children.
Daycare | Not daycare | Total | |
ALL | 1020 | 1272-1020 = 252 | 1272 |
Without ALL | 5343 | 6238-5343 = 895 | 6238 |
Total | 6363 | 1147 | 7510 |
Answer a)
It is an observational study as the researcher does not vary any parameter.
Answer b)
The odds of kids who went to daycare developing ALL = No. of Daycare Kids who developed ALL/No. of Daycare Kids who did not developed ALL
The odds of kids who went to daycare developing ALL = 1020/5343
The odds of kids who went to daycare developing ALL = 0.1909
The odds for the kids who did not go to daycare developing ALL = No. Kids who developed ALL and did not go to daycare/No. of kids who did not developed ALL and did not go to daycare
The odds for the kids who did not go to daycare = 252/895
The odds for the kids who did not go to daycare = 0.2816
Answer c)
The odds ratio for ALL, comparing kids who went to day care and those that did not = No. of Kids with ALL who went to daycare/No. of Kids with ALL who did not went to day care
The odds ratio for ALL, comparing kids who went to day care and those that did not = 1020/252
The odds ratio for ALL, comparing kids who went to day care and those that did not = 4.0476