Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37023467›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2023

A comparison of quasi-experimental methods with data before and after an intervention: an introduction for epidemiologists and a simulation study.

Roch A Nianogo, Tarik Benmarhnia, Stephen O'Neill

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing 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

36 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Observational
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. 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

3 authors.

Roch A NianogoDepartment of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5932-6169
Tarik BenmarhniaScripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Stephen O'NeillDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.

Funding

The SMART-CV Study: Systems Modeling Approaches to Reducing Disparities in Cardiovascular DiseasesK01MD014163 · NIMHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI NIANOGO, ROCH · 2020 to 2024
$671k
NIMHD NIH HHS 1K01MD014163-01A1NIMHD NIH HHS K01 MD014163
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAs the interest in and use of quasi-experimental methods to evaluate impacts of health policies have dramatically increased in the epidemiological literature, we set out this study to (i) systematically compare several quasi-experimental methods that use data before and after an intervention and contrast their performance within a simulation framework while providing a brief overview of the methods; and (ii) discuss challenges that could arise from using these methods as well as directions for future research in the context of epidemiological applications.

methodsWe considered single-group designs [pre-post and interrupted time series (ITS)] and multiple-group designs [controlled interrupted time series/difference-in-differences, synthetic control methods (SCMs): traditional SCMs and generalized SCMs]. We assessed performance based on bias and root mean squared error.

resultsWe identified settings in which each method failed to provide unbiased estimates. We found that, among the methods investigated, when data for multiple time points and for multiple control groups are available (multiple-group designs), data-adaptive methods such as the generalized SCM were generally less biased than other methods evaluated in our study. In addition, when all of the included units have been exposed to treatment (single-group designs) and data for a sufficiently long pre-intervention period are available, then the ITS performs very well, provided the underlying model is correctly specified.

conclusionsWhen using a quasi-experimental method using data before and after an intervention, epidemiologists should strive to use, whenever feasible, data-adaptive methods that nest alternative identifying assumptions including relaxing the parallel trend assumption (e.g. generalized SCMs).

Indexed as

EpidemiologistsResearch DesignBiasComputer SimulationHumansInterrupted Time Series Analysisdifference-in-differencesinterrupted time seriesQuasi-experimentssimulationsynthetic control method

Identifiers

PMID37023467
PMCPMC10555819

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.