Causal inference for recurrent event data using pseudo-observations.

Recurrent event data are commonly encountered in observational studies where each subject may experience a particular event repeatedly over time. In this article, we aim to compare cumulative rate functions (CRFs) of two groups when treatment assignment may depend on the unbalanced distribution of confounders. Several estimators based on pseudo-observations are proposed to adjust for the confounding effects, namely inverse probability of treatment weighting estimator, regression model-based estimators, and doubly robust estimators. The proposed marginal regression estimator and doubly robust estimators based on pseudo-observations are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. A bootstrap approach is proposed for the variance estimation of the proposed estimators. Model diagnostic plots of residuals are presented to assess the goodness-of-fit for the proposed regression models. A family of adjusted two-sample pseudo-score tests is proposed to compare two CRFs. Simulation studies are conducted to assess finite sample performance of the proposed method. The proposed technique is demonstrated through an application to a hospital readmission data set.

About an adaptively weighted Kaplan-Meier estimate.

The minimum averaged mean squared error nonparametric adaptive weights use data from m possibly different populations to infer about one population of interest. The definition of these weights is based on the properties of the empirical distribution function. We use the Kaplan-Meier estimate to let the weights accommodate right-censored data and use them to define the weighted Kaplan-Meier estimate. The proposed estimate is smoother than the usual Kaplan-Meier estimate and converges uniformly in probability to the target distribution. Simulations show that the performances of the weighted Kaplan-Meier estimate on finite samples exceed that of the usual Kaplan-Meier estimate. A case study is also presented.

Rank correlation under categorical confounding.

Rank correlation is invariant to bijective marginal transformations, but it is not immune to confounding. Assuming a categorical confounding variable is observed, the author proposes weighted coefficients of correlation for continuous variables developed within a larger framework based on copulas. While the weighting is clear under the assumption that the dependence is the same within each group implied by the confounder, the author extends the Minimum Averaged Mean Squared Error (MAMSE) weights to borrow strength between groups when the dependence may vary across them. Asymptotic properties of the proposed coefficients are derived and simulations are used to assess their finite sample properties.