Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.

<h4>Objective</h4>To explore methodological challenges when using real-world evidence (RWE) to estimate comparative-effectiveness in the context of Health Technology Assessment of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in Scotland.<h4>Methods</h4>We used linkage data from the Pre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giorgio Ciminata, Claudia Geue, Olivia Wu, Manuela Deidda, Noemi Kreif, Peter Langhorne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262293&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850128399592325120
author Giorgio Ciminata
Claudia Geue
Olivia Wu
Manuela Deidda
Noemi Kreif
Peter Langhorne
author_facet Giorgio Ciminata
Claudia Geue
Olivia Wu
Manuela Deidda
Noemi Kreif
Peter Langhorne
author_sort Giorgio Ciminata
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objective</h4>To explore methodological challenges when using real-world evidence (RWE) to estimate comparative-effectiveness in the context of Health Technology Assessment of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in Scotland.<h4>Methods</h4>We used linkage data from the Prescribing Information System (PIS), Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR) and mortality records for newly anticoagulated patients to explore methodological challenges in the use of Propensity score (PS) matching, Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) and covariate adjustment with PS. Model performance was assessed by standardised difference. Clinical outcomes (stroke and major bleeding) and mortality were compared for all DOACs (including apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban) versus warfarin. Patients were followed for 2 years from first oral anticoagulant prescription to first clinical event or death. Censoring was applied for treatment switching or discontinuation.<h4>Results</h4>Overall, a good balance of patients' covariates was obtained with every PS model tested. IPW was found to be the best performing method in assessing covariate balance when applied to subgroups with relatively large sample sizes (combined-DOACs versus warfarin). With the IPTW-IPCW approach, the treatment effect tends to be larger, but still in line with the treatment effect estimated using other PS methods. Covariate adjustment with PS in the outcome model performed well when applied to subgroups with smaller sample sizes (dabigatran versus warfarin), as this method does not require further reduction of sample size, and trimming or truncation of extreme weights.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The choice of adequate PS methods may vary according to the characteristics of the data. If assumptions of unobserved confounding hold, multiple approaches should be identified and tested. PS based methods can be implemented using routinely collected linked data, thus supporting Health Technology decision-making.
format Article
id doaj-art-eaa03da7a60d4ec19faac0a4ccfd5973
institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-eaa03da7a60d4ec19faac0a4ccfd59732025-08-20T02:33:19ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01171e026229310.1371/journal.pone.0262293Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.Giorgio CiminataClaudia GeueOlivia WuManuela DeiddaNoemi KreifPeter Langhorne<h4>Objective</h4>To explore methodological challenges when using real-world evidence (RWE) to estimate comparative-effectiveness in the context of Health Technology Assessment of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in Scotland.<h4>Methods</h4>We used linkage data from the Prescribing Information System (PIS), Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR) and mortality records for newly anticoagulated patients to explore methodological challenges in the use of Propensity score (PS) matching, Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) and covariate adjustment with PS. Model performance was assessed by standardised difference. Clinical outcomes (stroke and major bleeding) and mortality were compared for all DOACs (including apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban) versus warfarin. Patients were followed for 2 years from first oral anticoagulant prescription to first clinical event or death. Censoring was applied for treatment switching or discontinuation.<h4>Results</h4>Overall, a good balance of patients' covariates was obtained with every PS model tested. IPW was found to be the best performing method in assessing covariate balance when applied to subgroups with relatively large sample sizes (combined-DOACs versus warfarin). With the IPTW-IPCW approach, the treatment effect tends to be larger, but still in line with the treatment effect estimated using other PS methods. Covariate adjustment with PS in the outcome model performed well when applied to subgroups with smaller sample sizes (dabigatran versus warfarin), as this method does not require further reduction of sample size, and trimming or truncation of extreme weights.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The choice of adequate PS methods may vary according to the characteristics of the data. If assumptions of unobserved confounding hold, multiple approaches should be identified and tested. PS based methods can be implemented using routinely collected linked data, thus supporting Health Technology decision-making.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262293&type=printable
spellingShingle Giorgio Ciminata
Claudia Geue
Olivia Wu
Manuela Deidda
Noemi Kreif
Peter Langhorne
Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.
PLoS ONE
title Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.
title_full Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.
title_fullStr Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.
title_full_unstemmed Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.
title_short Propensity score methods for comparative-effectiveness analysis: A case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population.
title_sort propensity score methods for comparative effectiveness analysis a case study of direct oral anticoagulants in the atrial fibrillation population
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262293&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT giorgiociminata propensityscoremethodsforcomparativeeffectivenessanalysisacasestudyofdirectoralanticoagulantsintheatrialfibrillationpopulation
AT claudiageue propensityscoremethodsforcomparativeeffectivenessanalysisacasestudyofdirectoralanticoagulantsintheatrialfibrillationpopulation
AT oliviawu propensityscoremethodsforcomparativeeffectivenessanalysisacasestudyofdirectoralanticoagulantsintheatrialfibrillationpopulation
AT manueladeidda propensityscoremethodsforcomparativeeffectivenessanalysisacasestudyofdirectoralanticoagulantsintheatrialfibrillationpopulation
AT noemikreif propensityscoremethodsforcomparativeeffectivenessanalysisacasestudyofdirectoralanticoagulantsintheatrialfibrillationpopulation
AT peterlanghorne propensityscoremethodsforcomparativeeffectivenessanalysisacasestudyofdirectoralanticoagulantsintheatrialfibrillationpopulation