Dataset Information

Canonical Causal Diagrams to Guide the Treatment of Missing Data in Epidemiologic Studies.

ABSTRACT: With incomplete data, the "missing at random" (MAR) assumption is widely understood to enable unbiased estimation with appropriate methods. While the need to assess the plausibility of MAR and to perform sensitivity analyses considering "missing not at random" (MNAR) scenarios has been emphasized, the practical difficulty of these tasks is rarely acknowledged. With multivariable missingness, what MAR means is difficult to grasp, and in many MNAR scenarios unbiased estimation is possible using methods commonly associated with MAR. Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) have been proposed as an alternative framework for specifying practically accessible assumptions beyond the MAR-MNAR dichotomy. However, there is currently no general algorithm for deciding how to handle the missing data given a specific DAG. Here we construct "canonical" DAGs capturing typical missingness mechanisms in epidemiologic studies with incomplete data on exposure, outcome, and confounding factors. For each DAG, we determine whether common target parameters are "recoverable," meaning that they can be expressed as functions of the available data distribution and thus estimated consistently, or whether sensitivity analyses are necessary. We investigate the performance of available-case and multiple-imputation procedures. Using data from waves 1-3 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2004-2008), we illustrate how our findings can guide the treatment of missing data in point-exposure studies.

SUBMITTER: Moreno-Betancur M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6269242 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Canonical Causal Diagrams to Guide the Treatment of Missing Data in Epidemiologic Studies.

Moreno-Betancur Margarita M Lee Katherine J KJ Leacy Finbarr P FP White Ian R IR Simpson Julie A JA Carlin John B JB

American journal of epidemiology 20181201 12

With incomplete data, the "missing at random" (MAR) assumption is widely understood to enable unbiased estimation with appropriate methods. While the need to assess the plausibility of MAR and to perform sensitivity analyses considering "missing not at random" (MNAR) scenarios has been emphasized, the practical difficulty of these tasks is rarely acknowledged. With multivariable missingness, what MAR means is difficult to grasp, and in many MNAR scenarios unbiased estimation is possible using me ...[more]

PMID: 30124749

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression scale (CES-D) is a validated tool commonly used to screen depressive symptoms. As with any self-administered questionnaire, missing data are frequently observed and can strongly bias any inference. The objective of this study was to investigate the best approach for handling missing data in the CES-D scale.MethodsAmong the 71,412 women from the French E3N prospective cohort (Etude Epidémiologique auprès des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale) who returned the questionnaire comprising the CES-D scale in 2005, 45% had missing values in the scale. The reasons for failure to complete certain items were investigated by semi-directive interviews on a random sample of 204 participants. The prevalence of high depressive symptoms (score ? 16, hDS) was estimated after applying various methods for ignorable missing data including multiple imputation using imputation models with CES-D items with or without covariates. The accuracy of imputation models was investigated. Various scenarios of nonignorable missing data mechanisms were investigated by a sensitivity analysis based on the mixture modelling approach.ResultsThe interviews showed that participants were not reluctant to answer the CES-D scale. Possible reasons for nonresponse were identified. The prevalence of hDS among complete responders was 26.1%. After multiple imputation, the prevalence was 28.6%, 29.8% and 31.7% for women presenting up to 4, 10 and 20 missing values, respectively. The estimates were robust to the various imputation models investigated and to the scenarios of nonignorable missing data.ConclusionsThe CES-D scale can easily be used in large cohorts even in the presence of missing data. Based on the results from both a qualitative study and a sensitivity analysis under various scenarios of missing data mechanism in a population of women, missing data mechanism does not appear to be nonignorable and estimates are robust to departures from ignorability. Multiple imputation is recommended to reliably handle missing data in the CES-D scale.

Dataset Information

Canonical Causal Diagrams to Guide the Treatment of Missing Data in Epidemiologic Studies.

Publications

Canonical Causal Diagrams to Guide the Treatment of Missing Data in Epidemiologic Studies.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets