A Bayesian nonparametric causal inference model for synthesizing randomized clinical trial and real-world evidence.

Pubmed ID: 30883861

Journal: Statistics in medicine

Publication Date: June 30, 2019

Affiliation: Oncology Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

MeSH Terms: Algorithms, Bayes Theorem, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Propensity Score, Statistics, Nonparametric

Grants: HHSF2232010000072C, U01 FD00497, P30 CA006973

Authors: Wang C, Rosner GL

Cite As: Wang C, Rosner GL. A Bayesian nonparametric causal inference model for synthesizing randomized clinical trial and real-world evidence. Stat Med 2019 Jun 30;38(14):2573-2588. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Studies:

Abstract

With the wide availability of various real-world data (RWD), there is an increasing interest in synthesizing information from both randomized clinical trials and RWD for health-care decision makings. The task of addressing study-specific heterogeneities is one of the most difficult challenges in synthesizing data from disparate sources. Bayesian hierarchical models with nonparametric extension provide a powerful and convenient platform that formalizes the information borrowing strength across the sources. In this paper, we propose a propensity score-based Bayesian nonparametric Dirichlet process mixture model that summarizes subject-level information from randomized and registry studies to draw inference on the causal treatment effect. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the model performance under different scenarios. In addition, we demonstrate the proposed method using data from a clinical study on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor for treating congestive heart failure.