Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34608931›Full record

SynthesisJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA2021

ATLAS: an automated association test using probabilistically linked health records with application to genetic studies.

Harrison G Zhang, Boris P Hejblum, Griffin M Weber, Nathan P Palmer, Susanne E Churchill, Peter Szolovits, Shawn N Murphy, Katherine P Liao, Isaac S Kohane, Tianxi Cai

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

10 authors.

Harrison G ZhangDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6679-1464
Boris P HejblumDepartment of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0646-452X
Griffin M WeberDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Nathan P PalmerDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Susanne E ChurchillDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Peter SzolovitsComputer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Shawn N MurphyDepartment of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Katherine P LiaoDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Isaac S KohaneDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Tianxi CaiDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5379-2502

Funding

TrainingU54HG007963 · NHGRI · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI KOHANE, ISAAC S. · 2014 to 2018
$18.3M
VERITY: Value and Evidence in Rheumatology using bioInformaTics, and advanced analYticsP30AR072577 · NIAMS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI Daniel Hal Solomon · 2017 to 2026
$9.8M
NHGRI NIH HHS U54 HG007963NIAMS NIH HHS P30 AR072577NIH HHS U54-HG007963
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveLarge amounts of health data are becoming available for biomedical research. Synthesizing information across databases may capture more comprehensive pictures of patient health and enable novel research studies. When no gold standard mappings between patient records are available, researchers may probabilistically link records from separate databases and analyze the linked data. However, previous linked data inference methods are constrained to certain linkage settings and exhibit low power. Here, we present ATLAS, an automated, flexible, and robust association testing algorithm for probabilistically linked data. MATERIALS AND

methodsMissing variables are imputed at various thresholds using a weighted average method that propagates uncertainty from probabilistic linkage. Next, estimated effect sizes are obtained using a generalized linear model. ATLAS then conducts the threshold combination test by optimally combining P values obtained from data imputed at varying thresholds using Fisher's method and perturbation resampling.

resultsIn simulations, ATLAS controls for type I error and exhibits high power compared to previous methods. In a real-world genetic association study, meta-analysis of ATLAS-enabled analyses on a linked cohort with analyses using an existing cohort yielded additional significant associations between rheumatoid arthritis genetic risk score and laboratory biomarkers. DISCUSSION: Weighted average imputation weathers false matches and increases contribution of true matches to mitigate linkage error-induced bias. The threshold combination test avoids arbitrarily choosing a threshold to rule a match, thus automating linked data-enabled analyses and preserving power.

conclusionATLAS promises to enable novel and powerful research studies using linked data to capitalize on all available data sources.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsMedical Record LinkageBiasDatabases, FactualDiagnostic Tests, RoutineHumansbiorepositorieselectronic health recordsgenetic association studiesperturbation resamplingrecord linkage

Identifiers

PMID34608931
PMCPMC8633652

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.