1
|
Zhang J, Peng M, Li J, Li L, Bai X, Thabane L, Yh Lip G, Van Spall HG, Li G. Enrollment of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and female participants in the US diabetes trials spanning 2000 to 2020: A chronological survey. Diabetes Metab Syndr 2024; 18:103074. [PMID: 39033649 DOI: 10.1016/j.dsx.2024.103074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2024] [Accepted: 07/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
AIMS Little is known about the enrollment practice of both Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and females in the US diabetes trials. We aimed to perform a chronological survey to evaluate the enrollment of BIPOC and female participants in the US diabetes randomized controlled trials (RCTs) over the past two decades. METHODS We searched databases to systematically include the US diabetes RCTs from 2000 January 1st to 2020 December 31st. Primary outcome was the adequate enrollment of both BIPOC and females, defined by the participation to prevalence ratio (PPR) > 0.8. We tested the temporal trend in adequate enrollment over time and used logistic regression analysis to explore the relationship between adequate enrollment and trial characteristics. RESULTS A total of 69 US diabetes trials were included for analyses, with a median BIPOC and female enrollment percentage of 29.0 % and 45.4 % respectively. There were 22 (31.9 %) trials with adequate enrollment of both BIPOC and females. No significant trend of adequate enrollment percentage of BIPOC and females over time was observed (P = 0.16). Of trial types, those with medication interventions were significantly related to decreased odds of adequate enrollment, when compared to trials with non-drug interventions (odds ratio = 0.29, 95 % confidence interval: 0.11-0.84). CONCLUSIONS Less than one third of the US diabetes trials adequately enrolled both BIPOC and females over the past two decades, and no temporal improvement in BIPOC and female participant enrollment was observed. These results highlight the need for more endeavors to mitigate inadequate representation regarding BIPOC and female enrollment in diabetes trials.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jingyi Zhang
- Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Methodology (CCEM), The Affiliated Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Miaoguan Peng
- Department of Endocrinology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Higher Education Joint Laboratory of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510150, China
| | - Jianfeng Li
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, China
| | - Likang Li
- Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Methodology (CCEM), The Affiliated Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xuerui Bai
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lehana Thabane
- Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Gregory Yh Lip
- Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science at University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Danish Center for Health Services Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Harriette Gc Van Spall
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Guowei Li
- Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Methodology (CCEM), The Affiliated Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China; Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Kim DH, Park CM, Ko D, Lin KJ, Glynn RJ. Assessing the Benefits and Harms of Pharmacotherapy in Older Adults with Frailty: Insights from Pharmacoepidemiologic Studies of Routine Health Care Data. Drugs Aging 2024; 41:583-600. [PMID: 38954400 DOI: 10.1007/s40266-024-01121-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
The objective of this review is to summarize and appraise the research methodology, emerging findings, and future directions in pharmacoepidemiologic studies assessing the benefits and harms of pharmacotherapies in older adults with different levels of frailty. Older adults living with frailty are at elevated risk for poor health outcomes and adverse effects from pharmacotherapy. However, current evidence is limited due to the under-enrollment of frail older adults and the lack of validated frailty assessments in clinical trials. Recent advancements in measuring frailty in administrative claims and electronic health records (database-derived frailty scores) have enabled researchers to identify patients with frailty and to evaluate the heterogeneity of treatment effects by patients' frailty levels using routine health care data. When selecting a database-derived frailty score, researchers must consider the type of data (e.g., different coding systems), the length of the predictor assessment period, the extent of validation against clinically validated frailty measures, and the possibility of surveillance bias arising from unequal access to care. We reviewed 13 pharmacoepidemiologic studies published on PubMed from 2013 to 2023 that evaluated the benefits and harms of cardiovascular medications, diabetes medications, anti-neoplastic agents, antipsychotic medications, and vaccines by frailty levels. These studies suggest that, while greater frailty is positively associated with adverse treatment outcomes, older adults with frailty can still benefit from pharmacotherapy. Therefore, we recommend routine frailty subgroup analyses in pharmacoepidemiologic studies. Despite data and design limitations, the findings from such studies may be informative to tailor pharmacotherapy for older adults across the frailty spectrum.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dae Hyun Kim
- Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA, 02131, USA.
- Division of Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Chan Mi Park
- Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA, 02131, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Darae Ko
- Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA, 02131, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
- Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kueiyu Joshua Lin
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert J Glynn
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Boston, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Duchesneau ED, Stürmer T, Kim DH, Reeder-Hayes K, Edwards JK, Faurot KR, Lund JL. Performance of a Claims-Based Frailty Proxy Using Varying Frailty Ascertainment Lookback Windows. Med Care 2024; 62:305-313. [PMID: 38498870 PMCID: PMC10997449 DOI: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Frailty is an aging-related syndrome of reduced physiological reserve to maintain homeostasis. The Faurot frailty index has been validated as a Medicare claims-based proxy for predicting frailty using billing information from a user-specified ascertainment window. OBJECTIVES We assessed the validity of the Faurot frailty index as a predictor of the frailty phenotype and 1-year mortality using varying frailty ascertainment windows. RESEARCH DESIGN We identified older adults (66+ y) in Round 5 (2015) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study with Medicare claims linkage. Gold standard frailty was assessed using the frailty phenotype. We calculated the Faurot frailty index using 3, 6, 8, and 12 months of claims prior to the survey or all-available lookback. Model performance for each window in predicting the frailty phenotype was assessed by quantifying calibration and discrimination. Predictive performance for 1-year mortality was assessed by estimating risk differences across claims-based frailty strata. RESULTS Among 4253 older adults, the 6 and 8-month windows had the best frailty phenotype calibration (calibration slopes: 0.88 and 0.87). All-available lookback had the best discrimination (C-statistic=0.780), but poor calibration. Mortality associations were strongest using a 3-month window and monotonically decreased with longer windows. Subgroup analyses revealed worse performance in Black and Hispanic individuals than counterparts. CONCLUSIONS The optimal ascertainment window for the Faurot frailty index may depend on the clinical context, and researchers should consider tradeoffs between discrimination, calibration, and mortality. Sensitivity analyses using different durations can enhance the robustness of inferences. Research is needed to improve prediction across racial and ethnic groups.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emilie D Duchesneau
- Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
| | - Til Stürmer
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Dae Hyun Kim
- Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Harvard Medical School, Roslindale, MA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brookline, MA
| | - Katherine Reeder-Hayes
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Jessie K Edwards
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Keturah R Faurot
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Jennifer L Lund
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Duchesneau ED, Shmuel S, Faurot KR, Park J, Musty A, Pate V, Kinlaw AC, Stürmer T, Yang YC, Funk MJ, Lund JL. Translation of a Claims-Based Frailty Index From the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification to the Tenth Revision. Am J Epidemiol 2023; 192:2085-2093. [PMID: 37431778 PMCID: PMC10988220 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwad151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The Faurot frailty index (FFI) is a validated algorithm that uses enrollment and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM)-based billing information from Medicare claims data as a proxy for frailty. In October 2015, the US health-care system transitioned from the ICD-9-CM to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). Applying the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services General Equivalence Mappings, we translated diagnosis-based frailty indicator codes from the ICD-9-CM to the ICD-10-CM, followed by manual review. We used interrupted time-series analysis of Medicare data to assess the comparability of the pre- and posttransition FFI scores. In cohorts of beneficiaries enrolled in January 2015-2017 with 8-month frailty look-back periods, we estimated associations between the FFI and 1-year risk of aging-related outcomes (mortality, hospitalization, and admission to a skilled nursing facility). Updated indicators had similar prevalences as pretransition definitions. The median FFI scores and interquartile ranges (IQRs) for the predicted probability of frailty were similar before and after the International Classification of Diseases transition (pretransition: median, 0.034 (IQR, 0.02-0.07); posttransition: median, 0.038 (IQR, 0.02-0.09)). The updated FFI was associated with increased risks of mortality, hospitalization, and skilled nursing facility admission, similar to findings from the ICD-9-CM era. Studies of medical interventions in older adults using administrative claims should use validated indices, like the FFI, to mitigate confounding or assess effect-measure modification by frailty.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emilie D Duchesneau
- Correspondence to Emilie Duchesneau, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 2101 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, Campus Box 7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435 (e-mail: )
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Shin H, Wang SV, Kim DH, Alt E, Mahesri M, Bessette LG, Schneeweiss S, Najafzadeh M. Predicting Treatment Effects of a New-to-Market Drug in Clinical Practice Based on Phase III Randomized Trial Results. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2023; 114:853-861. [PMID: 37365904 PMCID: PMC10851912 DOI: 10.1002/cpt.2983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Trial results may not be generalizable to target populations treated in clinical practice with different distributions of baseline characteristics that modify the treatment effect. We used outcome models developed with trial data to predict treatment effects in Medicare populations. We used data from the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy trial (RE-LY), which investigated the effect of dabigatran vs. warfarin on stroke or systemic embolism (stroke/SE) among patients with atrial fibrillation. We developed outcome models by fitting proportional hazards models in trial data. Target populations were trial-eligible Medicare beneficiaries who initiated dabigatran or warfarin in 2010-2011 ("early") and 2010-2017 ("extended"). We predicted 2-year risk ratios (RRs) and risk differences (RDs) for stroke/SE, major bleeding, and all-cause death in the Medicare populations using the observed baseline characteristics. The trial and early target populations had similar mean (SD) CHADS2 scores (2.15 (SD 1.13) vs. 2.15 (SD 0.91)) but different mean ages (71 vs. 79 years). Compared with RE-LY, the early Medicare population had similar predicted benefit of dabigatran vs. warfarin for stroke/SE (trial RR = 0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.50 to 0.76 and RD = -1.37%, -1.96% to -0.77%, Medicare RR = 0.73, 0.65 to 0.82 and RD = -0.92%, -1.26% to -0.59%) and risks for major bleeding and all-cause death. The time-extended target population showed similar results. Outcome model-based prediction facilitates estimating the average treatment effects of a drug in different target populations when treatment and outcome data are unreliable or unavailable. The predicted effects may inform payers' coverage decisions for patients, especially shortly after a drug's launch when observational data are scarce.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- HoJin Shin
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Shirley V. Wang
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Dae Hyun Kim
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
| | - Ethan Alt
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Mufaddal Mahesri
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Lily G. Bessette
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Sebastian Schneeweiss
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Mehdi Najafzadeh
- Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Ling AY, Jreich R, Montez-Rath ME, Meng Z, Kapphahn K, Chandross KJ, Desai M. Transporting observational study results to a target population of interest using inverse odds of participation weighting. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278842. [PMID: 36520950 PMCID: PMC9754161 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Inverse odds of participation weighting (IOPW) has been proposed to transport clinical trial findings to target populations of interest when the distribution of treatment effect modifiers differs between trial and target populations. We set out to apply IOPW to transport results from an observational study to a target population of interest. We demonstrated the feasibility of this idea with a real-world example using a nationwide electronic health record derived de-identified database from Flatiron Health. First, we conducted an observational study that carefully adjusted for confounding to estimate the treatment effect of fulvestrant plus palbociclib relative to letrozole plus palbociclib as a second-line therapy among estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer patients. Second, we transported these findings to the broader cohort of patients who were eligible for a first-line therapy. The interpretation of the findings and validity of such studies, however, rely on the extent that causal inference assumptions are met.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Albee Y. Ling
- Division of Biomedical Informatics Research, Department of Medicine, Quantitative Sciences Unit, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Rana Jreich
- Sanofi, Bridgewater, NJ, United States of America
| | - Maria E. Montez-Rath
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | | | - Kris Kapphahn
- Division of Biomedical Informatics Research, Department of Medicine, Quantitative Sciences Unit, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | | | - Manisha Desai
- Division of Biomedical Informatics Research, Department of Medicine, Quantitative Sciences Unit, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Li G, Zhang J, Van Spall HGC, Douglas PS, Wang Y, Sun X, Thabane L. Exploring ethnic representativeness in diabetes clinical trial enrolment from 2000 to 2020: a chronological survey. Diabetologia 2022; 65:1461-1472. [PMID: 35705796 PMCID: PMC9200441 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-022-05736-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS Ethnic representativeness of participant enrolment in diabetes RCTs involving multiple ethnicities remains unknown. The aims of this study were to evaluate the status and temporal trend of ethnic representativeness in enrolment to diabetes RCTs, and to assess under-enrolment of non-white ethnic groups and explore trial characteristics associated with under-enrolment. METHODS We conducted a chronological survey by systematically searching the literature to include eligible RCTs published between January 2000 and December 2020. We assessed temporal trends in enrolment of ethnic groups in the included trials. Univariable logistic regression was used to explore the association between trial characteristics and under-enrolment of non-white groups, using a participant to prevalence ratio of <0.8 to define under-enrolment. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021229100). RESULTS We included 405 RCTs for analysis (327 multi-country trials, 69 conducted in the USA and nine conducted in the UK). The median enrolment rate of all non-white groups was 24.0% in the overall RCTs. Trials conducted in the USA and the UK had median enrolment rates of 29.0% and 12.0% for all non-white groups, respectively. There was a temporal trend towards increased participation of non-white ethnic groups in the overall RCTs; however, no significant improvement over time was found in the US or UK trials. Non-white groups were under-enrolled in most included trials: 62.3% (43/69) in US trials and 77.8% (7/9) in UK trials. The US trials with a high female proportion were associated with lower odds of under-enrolment of all non-white groups (OR 0.22; 95% CI 0.07, 0.65), while trials receiving funding from industry showed increased odds of under-enrolment (OR 4.64; 95% CI 1.50, 14.35). Outpatient enrolment and intervention duration were significantly associated with under-enrolment of Black participants. Only a small proportion of trials reported subgroup results or explored the effect modification by ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION A temporal trend towards increased non-white ethnic enrolment was found in diabetes RCTs globally, but not in the USA or the UK. Non-white ethnic groups were under-represented in the majority of diabetes trials conducted in the USA and the UK. Some trial characteristics may be associated with non-white under-enrolment in diabetes trials. These findings provide some evidence for non-white ethnic representativeness in diabetes trials over the past two decades, and highlight the need for more effective strategies and endeavours to alleviate under-enrolment of non-white ethnic groups.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guowei Li
- Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Methodology, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
| | - Jingyi Zhang
- Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Methodology, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Harriette G C Van Spall
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Pamela S Douglas
- Duke University Clinical Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Yaoyao Wang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xin Sun
- Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Center and Cochrane China Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
| | - Lehana Thabane
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Sun JW, Wang R, Li D, Toh S. Use of Linked Databases for Improved Confounding Control: Considerations for Potential Selection Bias. Am J Epidemiol 2022; 191:711-723. [PMID: 35015823 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwab299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Pharmacoepidemiologic studies are increasingly conducted within linked databases, often to obtain richer confounder data. However, the potential for selection bias is frequently overlooked when linked data is available only for a subset of patients. We highlight the importance of accounting for potential selection bias by evaluating the association between antipsychotics and type 2 diabetes in youths within a claims database linked to a smaller laboratory database. We used inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTW) to control for confounding. In analyses restricted to the linked cohorts, we applied inverse probability of selection weights (IPSW) to create a population representative of the full cohort. We used pooled logistic regression weighted by IPTW only or IPTW and IPSW to estimate treatment effects. Metabolic conditions were more prevalent in linked cohorts compared with the full cohort. Within the full cohort, the confounding-adjusted hazard ratio was 2.26 (95% CI: 2.07, 2.49) comparing initiation of antipsychotics with initiation of control medications. Within the linked cohorts, a different magnitude of association was obtained without adjustment for selection, whereas applying IPSW resulted in point estimates similar to the full cohort's (e.g., an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.63 became 2.12). Linked database studies may generate biased estimates without proper adjustment for potential selection bias.
Collapse
|