Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30834430›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of epidemiology2019

Using Bounds to Compare the Strength of Exchangeability Assumptions for Internal and External Validity.

Alexander Breskin, Daniel Westreich, Stephen R Cole, Jessie K Edwards

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of epidemiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Alexander BreskinDepartment of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Daniel WestreichDepartment of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Stephen R ColeDepartment of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Jessie K EdwardsDepartment of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Funding

Virology, Immunology, and Microbiology CoreP30AI050410 · NIAID · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI DAVID M. MARGOLIS · 2001 to 2026
$76.9M
UNC MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study Clinical Research SiteU01HL146194 · NHLBI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Michael Bradley Drummond, Michelle Floris-Moore · 2019 to 2026
$23.2M
From patients to policy: innovative epidemiology for implementation scienceDP2HD084070 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI WESTREICH, DANIEL J · 2014 to 2014
$2.3M
Comparative effectiveness of tailored HIV treatment plans and mortalityK01AI125087 · NIAID · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI EDWARDS, JESSIE · 2017 to 2021
$586k
NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL146194NIAID NIH HHS K01 AI125087NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI050410NICHD NIH HHS DP2 HD084070
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In the absence of strong assumptions (e.g., exchangeability), only bounds for causal effects can be identified. Here we describe bounds for the risk difference for an effect of a binary exposure on a binary outcome in 4 common study settings: observational studies and randomized studies, each with and without simple random selection from the target population. Through these scenarios, we introduce randomizations for selection and treatment, and the widths of the bounds are narrowed from 2 (the width of the range of the risk difference) to 0 (point identification). We then assess the strength of the assumptions of exchangeability for internal and external validity by comparing their contributions to the widths of the bounds in the setting of an observational study without random selection from the target population. We find that when less than two-thirds of the target population is selected into the study, the assumption of exchangeability for external validity of the risk difference is stronger than that for internal validity. The relative strength of these assumptions should be considered when designing, analyzing, and interpreting observational studies and will aid in determining the best methods for estimating the causal effects of interest.

Indexed as

CausalityEpidemiologic MethodsModels, StatisticalHumansObservational Studies as TopicRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch Designcausal inferenceexternal validityinternal validitypartial identification

Identifiers

PMID30834430
PMCPMC6601532

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.