Health Sciences

Constella conducts and facilitates novel research in fields including environmental health, children’s health, immunization, occupational safety and health, mental health, and infectious disease prevention. We design and test data collection techniques and instruments. We assemble study subjects, conduct mail and phone surveys and focus groups, and collect biological and environmental samples. We fit simple and complex models to analyze study data, we interpret and present study results to sponsoring agencies, and we publish study results in peer-reviewed journals. We offer data management and statistical consulting to support clinical trials, epidemiological studies, designed experiments, complex surveys, and basic research in biological sciences.

Specific offerings that Constella provides include:

• Behavioral Research
• Epidemiological Study Design and Operations
• Mathematical Models of Biological Systems
• Qualitative Research
• Quantitative Research
• Record Linkage Methods, Development and Practice
• Statistical Analysis and Mathematical Modeling for Toxicology
• Survey Research

Selected Projects

• Survey to Determine Exposure Rates and Risk Factors of Healthcare Workers to Blood-borne Infections, Including HIV, and to Evaluate Current Preventative Procedures
• Record Linkage for Maternally Linked Birth Records Data Sets

Survey to Determine Exposure Rates and Risk Factors of Healthcare Workers to Blood-borne Infections, Including HIV, and to Evaluate Current Preventative Procedures

Client: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – NIOSH

For paramedics and other non-hospital workers, clearly there is a great need to protect against blood-born infections such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. On task from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Constella launched a nationwide study to determine exposure rates, risk factors, and preventative measures for these front-line workers.

Formative methods drove this population-based research. Surveys and interviews from thousands of paramedics across the United States provided initial information on their incidence of blood exposure. We took it a step further by riding along with paramedics, observing and recording their potential for exposure in attending emergency situations. We analyzed the data, comparing incidence of exposure to hospital-based workers, and reported the information to NIOSH. (Ultimately, NIOSH tasked Constella with parallel work to study the exposure of home-health nurses to blood-borne infections.)

Our results prompted the need to review the guidelines and policies for the protection of paramedics. We published results in The Annals of Epidemiology, www.annalsofepidemiology.com, and presented findings at national epidemiological conferences.

Record Linkage for Maternally Linked Birth Records Data Sets

Client: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) had strong interest in promoting the creation and for analysis of maternally linked birth records data sets, but it recognized that the methodology for both creating the linked files and analyzing the data needed more development to be efficacious.

Constella is developing innovative methods for creating maternal linkages of birth records and for conducting valid analysis of the linked records. Under NICHD sponsorship, Constella is also creating a public-use data set containing 10 million maternally linked birth and fetal death records spanning a 13-year birth cohort.