Looking beyond risk: A study of lay epidemiology of childhood disorders

Abstract

Davison, Frankel, and Davey Smith (1989) conceptualised lay epidemiology as the process of interpreting health risks through considering non-traditional sources of information drawn from personal networks and from the public arena. We analysed 100 unsolicited letters received by professional epidemiologists studying the causes of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The correspondents sourced their ideas from an interaction between personal, social, media, and scientific sources, as well as conducting their own studies. Thus their correspondence represented a form of lay epidemiology in action, and as such provides a useful pointer to how ‘lay expertise’ may be harnessed in practice. The vast majority of the letters put forward theories and hypotheses about hazards related to early twenty-first century society, either medical technologies, unavoidable by-products of technology, or risks created by modern lifestyles. Given the conclusions of previous studies a surprisingly small minority put forward causes related to vaccines. This disparity is discussed. The findings shed light on the nature of public trust of institutions involved in the definition of risk. They underline the strength of public concern not just about vaccines, but more widely about risks of modern society and technology causing childhood disorders.