Contrast-specific propensity scores for causal inference with multiple interventions

Stat Methods Med Res. 2024 May;33(5):825-837. doi: 10.1177/09622802241236952. Epub 2024 Mar 18.

Abstract

Existing methods that use propensity scores for heterogeneous treatment effect estimation on non-experimental data do not readily extend to the case of more than two treatment options. In this work, we develop a new propensity score-based method for heterogeneous treatment effect estimation when there are three or more treatment options, and prove that it generates unbiased estimates. We demonstrate our method on a real patient registry of patients in Singapore with diabetic dyslipidemia. On this dataset, our method generates heterogeneous treatment recommendations for patients among three options: Statins, fibrates, and non-pharmacological treatment to control patients' lipid ratios (total cholesterol divided by high-density lipoprotein level). In our numerical study, our proposed method generated more stable estimates compared to a benchmark method based on a multi-dimensional propensity score.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Causality
  • Dyslipidemias* / drug therapy
  • Fibric Acids / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors* / therapeutic use
  • Hypolipidemic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Models, Statistical
  • Propensity Score*
  • Singapore

Substances

  • Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
  • Fibric Acids
  • Hypolipidemic Agents