Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33057574›Full record

ReviewAmerican journal of epidemiology2021

Common Methods for Handling Missing Data in Marginal Structural Models: What Works and Why.

Clémence Leyrat, James R Carpenter, Sébastien Bailly, Elizabeth J Williamson

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in American journal of epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
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

24 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  3. Validation of IHC4 + C for male breast cancer.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2026
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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 at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Clémence Leyrat
James R Carpenter
Sébastien Bailly
Elizabeth J Williamson
University of London · GBLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBPhysiopathologie et Epidémiologie des Maladies Respiratoires · FR

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_UU_12023/21Medical Research Council MR/M013278/1Medical Research Council MR/S01442X/1Medical Research Council MR/T032448/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Marginal structural models (MSMs) are commonly used to estimate causal intervention effects in longitudinal nonrandomized studies. A common challenge when using MSMs to analyze observational studies is incomplete confounder data, where a poorly informed analysis method will lead to biased estimates of intervention effects. Despite a number of approaches described in the literature for handling missing data in MSMs, there is little guidance on what works in practice and why. We reviewed existing missing-data methods for MSMs and discussed the plausibility of their underlying assumptions. We also performed realistic simulations to quantify the bias of 5 methods used in practice: complete-case analysis, last observation carried forward, the missingness pattern approach, multiple imputation, and inverse-probability-of-missingness weighting. We considered 3 mechanisms for nonmonotone missing data encountered in research based on electronic health record data. Further illustration of the strengths and limitations of these analysis methods is provided through an application using a cohort of persons with sleep apnea: the research database of the French Observatoire Sommeil de la Fédération de Pneumologie. We recommend careful consideration of 1) the reasons for missingness, 2) whether missingness modifies the existing relationships among observed data, and 3) the scientific context and data source, to inform the choice of the appropriate method(s) for handling partially observed confounders in MSMs.

Indexed as

Computer SimulationModels, StatisticalData Interpretation, StatisticalElectronic Health RecordsHumanscomplete casesinverse probability weightinglast observation carried forwardmissingness pattern approachmultiple imputationpropensity scoretime-varying confounding

Identifiers

PMID33057574
PMCPMC8631064
OpenAlexW3093160288

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.