Probabilistic bias analysis in pharmacoepidemiology and comparative effectiveness research: a systematic review
Student Authors
Jacob N. HunnicuttUMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Quantitative Health SciencesDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2016-12-01Keywords
UMCCTS fundingcomparative effectiveness
pharmacoepidemiology
probabilistic bias analysis
quantitative bias analysis
Clinical Epidemiology
Epidemiology
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Statistics and Probability
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
PURPOSE: We systematically reviewed pharmacoepidemiologic and comparative effectiveness studies that use probabilistic bias analysis to quantify the effects of systematic error including confounding, misclassification, and selection bias on study results. METHODS: We found articles published between 2010 and October 2015 through a citation search using Web of Science and Google Scholar and a keyword search using PubMed and Scopus. Eligibility of studies was assessed by one reviewer. Three reviewers independently abstracted data from eligible studies. RESULTS: Fifteen studies used probabilistic bias analysis and were eligible for data abstraction-nine simulated an unmeasured confounder and six simulated misclassification. The majority of studies simulating an unmeasured confounder did not specify the range of plausible estimates for the bias parameters. Studies simulating misclassification were in general clearer when reporting the plausible distribution of bias parameters. Regardless of the bias simulated, the probability distributions assigned to bias parameters, number of simulated iterations, sensitivity analyses, and diagnostics were not discussed in the majority of studies. CONCLUSION: Despite the prevalence and concern of bias in pharmacoepidemiologic and comparative effectiveness studies, probabilistic bias analysis to quantitatively model the effect of bias was not widely used. The quality of reporting and use of this technique varied and was often unclear. Further discussion and dissemination of the technique are warranted.Source
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016 Dec;25(12):1343-1353. doi: 10.1002/pds.4076. Epub 2016 Sep 5. Link to article on publisher's website
DOI
10.1002/pds.4076Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/33528PubMed ID
27593968Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/pds.4076