摘要:Genetic data collected from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) provides an opportunity to investigate associations between genetic variations and health-related phenotypes for the US population. Complex sample designs involving stratified multistage cluster sampling and sample weighting are used to sample families in household surveys such as the NHANES III. We modified conditional likelihood score and trend tests used to test the null hypothesis of no association between a candidate gene and a phenotype in simple random samples of nuclear families so that these tests are applicable to data from complex sample designs. The finite sample properties of our modified test procedures are evaluated via Monte Carlo simulation studies. We recommend using an F-version of the trend test instead of a score test because the F-test shows greater power. Our test statistics are applied to NHANES III data to test for associations between the locus ADRB2 (rs1042713) and obesity, VDR (rs2239185) and high blood lead level, and TGFB1 (rs1982073) and asthma.