WITHDRAWN: A Structural Equation Model for Estimating the Mediation Proportion of Radiation, Inflammation, and Cataract

• Author(s): Wan-Ling Hsu and Kazuo Neriishi and Eiji Nakashima and Tatsuyuki Kakuma
• Keywords: SEM ; radiation exposure ; inflammation ; cataract

Abstract

In studying the late health effects of radiation exposure among the atomic bomb survivors, higher risk of cataract was found to be associated with radiation dose. Scientists had hypothesized that the effect of radiation on cataract might be mediated through inflammation. To ascertain this causal association, this study applied the structural equation model to measure the latent inflammatory level and to jointly estimate the direct and indirect effect of radiation on cataract, using the data obtained from 3,942 Adult Health Study participants. The results indicate that radiation exposure is significantly associated with cataract (P< 0.001) and elevated inflammation (P=0.016), and inflammation is a significant risk factor for cataract (P=0.008). The mediating proportion is roughly 7.2% of total radiation effect at 1 Gy.