Spatiotemporal variations in the risk of cryptorchidism requiring surgery in France and environmental hypotheses
Santé publique France has established a national surveillance program for reproductive health indicators related to exposure to endocrine disruptors. Cryptorchidism (failure of the testicles to descend into the scrotum in boys) was selected for this program based on the strength of the evidence. This new study, based on the PMSI registry of new cases of cryptorchidism treated surgically between 2002 and 2014 in boys aged 0 to 6 years, is unique in its analysis of national data at a granular level—the ZIP code. This approach made it possible to study, over a 13-year period, a large sample of incident cases (91,400 across all of France, including overseas territories, and 89,382 in metropolitan France) and to analyze their geographic distribution using appropriate statistical methods: spatial modeling at the postal code level and cluster detection using the methods of Kulldorff (SaTScan) and Tango and Takahashi (FleXScan). A spatiotemporal analysis at the departmental level revealed an increase in the incidence rate at the national level (+37.1%: 31.5%; 42.9%) and in nearly all departments, as well as significant geographic heterogeneity. A trend toward the clustering of cases of cryptorchidism requiring surgery was observed in greater detail at the ZIP code level. Approximately twenty clusters, each covering a few hundred square kilometers and scattered across northern and central-eastern France, were identified. Their descriptive analysis suggests that geographically determined socioeconomic and environmental factors play a role in the occurrence of cryptorchidism. This descriptive study is the first to be conducted on cases of cryptorchidism treated surgically on a national scale, using a very large sample. It should be considered a hypothesis-generating study. The hypotheses discussed regarding possible current or past environmental or occupational exposures to endocrine disruptors (metals, dioxins, PCBs) must be further investigated through ecological studies and tested by targeted etiological studies.
Author(s): Le Moal Joëlle, Goria Sarah, Guillet Agnès, Rigou Annabel, Chesneau Julie
Publishing year: 2021
Pages: 42 p.
Collection: Studies and Surveys
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