Letter to the editor regarding “spatiotemporal association of low birth weight with Cs-137 deposition at the prefecture level in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents”

Abstract

In the previous report, association between increased low birth weight prevalence and radiocesium deposition after 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster was found. However, the statistical analyses therein raised several questions. First, ecological variables are not justified enough to adjust potential confounding. Second, the spatiotemporal regression model does not consider temporal reduction in radiation dose rate. Third, dose-response plot between dose rates and odds ratios overestimates R2 and underestimates p value.