Introduction of the multivariate Dale model in genetic association studies.

Abstract

Until recently, the most common parametric approaches to study the combined effects of several genetic polymorphisms located within a gene or in a small genomic region are , at the genotype level, logistic regressions and at the haplotype level, haplotype analyses. An alternative modeling approach based on the case/control principle, is to regard exposures (e.g., genetic data such as derived from Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms SNPs) as random and disease status as fixed and to use a marginal multivariate model that accounts for inter-relationships between exposures. One such model is the multivariate Dale model. This model is based on multiple logistic regressions. That is why the model, applied in a case/control setting, leads to straightforward interpretations that are similar to those drawn in a classical logistic modeling framework.