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An application of multivariate ranks to assess effects from combining factors: Metal exposures and semen analysis outcomes
Author(s) -
Ramamoorthi R. V.,
Rossano M. G.,
Paneth N.,
Gardiner J. C.,
Diamond M. P.,
Puscheck E.,
Daly D. C.,
Potter R. C.,
Wirth J. J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/sim.3236
Subject(s) - multivariate statistics , semen , multivariate analysis , sperm , sperm motility , semen analysis , statistics , biology , medicine , andrology , mathematics , genetics , infertility , pregnancy
In studies of environmental effects on human health outcomes, it is often difficult to assess the effects of a group of exposure variables when the individual exposures do not appear to have statistically significant effects. To address this situation, we propose a method of U ‐scores applied to subsets of multivariate data. We illustrate the usefulness of this approach by applying it to data collected as part of a study on the effects of metal exposure on human semen parameters. In this analysis, profiles (pairs) of metals containing copper and/or manganese were negatively correlated with total motile sperm and profiles containing copper were negatively correlated with sperm morphology; profiles containing selenium and chromium were positively correlated with total motile sperm. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.