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Selection of Neighborhood Controls for a Population-Based Lyme Disease Case-Control Study by Using a Commercial Marketing Database

2013; Oxford University Press; Volume: 178; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/aje/kws464

1476-6256

Neeta P. Connally, Kimberly Yousey‐Hindes, James Meek,

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

The selection of controls is an important methodological consideration for case-control studies. Neighborhood-matched control selection is particularly crucial for studies of vector-borne disease, such as Lyme disease, for which risk is intrinsically linked to geographical location. The matching of case-control pairs on neighborhood can help control for variation in ecological risk factors that are tied to geographical location, like vector and host habitat in the peridomestic environment. Random-digit dialing has been used to find neighborhood controls by using the area code and exchange of the case to generate lists of potential control households. An alternative to random-digit dialing is the purchase of residential telephone numbers from a commercial marketing database. This report describes the utility of the InfoUSA.com (InfoGroup, Papillion, Nebraska) commercial marketing database for neighborhood control recruitment in a Lyme disease case-control study in Connecticut during 2005-2007.