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Mediation analysis seeks to explain the pathway(s) through which an exposure affects an outcome. Traditional, non-instrumental variable methods for mediation analysis experience a number of methodological difficulties, including bias due to confounding between an exposure, mediator and outcome and measurement error. Mendelian randomisation (MR) can be used to improve causal inference for mediation
We describe a novel Bayesian pathway analysis approach, the algorithm for learning pathway structure (ALPS), which addresses key limitations in existing approaches to complex data analysis. Read the paper at https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/189/12/1610/5868707
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/bayesian-pathway-analysis-complex-interactions - 2025-12-09
The method extends an established case–control sampling principle: sample the at-risk experience of a cohort study such that the sampled exposure distribution approximates that of the cohort. It is distinct from density sampling in that the sample remains in the form of the at-risk measure, which may be continuous, such as person–time or person–distance. Read the paper at https://journals.lww.com/
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/risk-measure-sampling-case-control-studies-aggregated-data - 2025-12-09
We recommend careful consideration of 1) the reasons for missingness, 2) whether missingness modifies the existing relationships among observed data, and 3) the scientific context and data source, to inform the choice of the appropriate method(s) for handling partially observed confounders in MSMs. Read the paper at https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/190/4/663/5923802
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/common-methods-handling-missing-data-marginal-structural-models-what-works-and-why - 2025-12-09
As a new tool, we present do-search, a recently developed algorithmic approach that can determine the identifiability of a causal effect. The approach is based on do-calculus, and it can utilize data with nontrivial missing data and selection bias mechanisms. Read the paper at https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2021/01000/Do_search__A_Tool_f…
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/do-search-tool-causal-inference-and-study-design-multiple-data-sources - 2025-12-09
This systematic review demonstrates that regression discontinuity designs have been widely applied in health research and could be used more widely still. Shortcomings in study quality and reporting suggest that the potential benefits of this method have not yet been fully realized. Read the paper at https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2021/01000/Regression_Disconti…
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/regression-discontinuity-designs-health - 2025-12-09
Lack of representativeness may distort the associations of alcohol with CVD mortality, and may underestimate health hazards among those with cumulatively the least healthy lifestyles. Read the paper at https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2021/03000/Is_Cohort_Represent…
Advice regarding the analysis of observational studies of exposure effects usually is against adjustment for factors that occur after the exposure, as they may be caused by the exposure (or mediate the effect of exposure on outcome), so potentially leading to collider stratification bias. However, such factors could also be caused by unmeasured confounding factors, in which case adjusting for them
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/adjust-or-not-adjust-when-confounder-only-measured-after-exposure - 2025-12-09
Mediation analysis, which started in the mid-1980s, is used extensively by applied researchers. Indirect and direct effects are the part of a treatment effect that is mediated by a covariate and the part that is not. Subsequent work on natural indirect and direct effects provides a formal causal interpretation, based on cross-worlds counterfactuals: outcomes under treatment with the mediator set t
Patient registries are an established methodology in health services research. Since more than 150 years, registries collect information concerning groups of similar patients to answer research questions. Elaborated recommendations about an appropriate development and an efficient operation of registries are available. However, the scene changes rapidly. Read the paper at https://www.thieme-connec
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/recent-trends-patient-registries-health-services-research - 2025-12-09
Collaboration and the sharing of knowledge is at the heart of Open Science (OS). However, we need to know that the knowledge we find and share is really what it purports to be; and we need to know that the authors we hope to collaborate with are really the people they claim to be. Read the paper at https://direct.mit.edu/dint/article/3/1/64/94911/Open-Science-A-Questio…
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/open-science-question-trust - 2025-12-09
Here, we describe the new MSBase pregnancy, neonatal outcomes and women’s health registry. We provide the rationale for, and detailed description of, the variables collected within the registry, together with data acquisition details. Read the paper at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/17562864211009104
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/msbase-pregnancy-neonatal-outcomes-and-womens-health-registry - 2025-12-09
Generalizability methods are increasingly used to make inferences about the effect of interventions in target populations using a study sample. Most existing methods to generalize effects from sample to population rely on the assumption that subgroup-specific effects generalize directly. However, researchers may be concerned that in fact subgroup-specific effects differ between sample and populati
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/generalizability-subgroup-effects - 2025-12-09
An estimated 40% of pregnancies globally are unintended. Measurement of pregnancy intention in low- and middle-income countries relies heavily on surveys, notably Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), yet few studies have evaluated survey questions. Read the paper at https://pophealthmetrics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12963-020-…
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/pregnancy-intention-data-completeness-quality-and-utility-population-based-surveys - 2025-12-09
Clinical registries that monitor and review outcomes for patients with cystic fibrosis have existed internationally for many decades. However, their purpose continues to evolve and now includes the capability to support clinical effectiveness research, clinical trials and Phase IV studies, and international data comparisons and projects. Read the paper at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/redesign-australian-cystic-fibrosis-data-registry-multidisciplinary-collaboration - 2025-12-09
The PARTNER project (Paediatric Rare Tumours Network - European Registry) was launched in 2016. PARTNER aims to create a European Registry dedicated to children and adolescents with very rare tumors (VRT). It links existing national registries and provides a registry for those countries in which a VRT registry has not yet been created. Read the paper at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.
Systems models, which by design aim to capture multi-level complexity, are a natural choice of tool for bridging the divide between social epidemiology and causal inference. In this commentary, we discuss the potential uses of complex systems models for improving our understanding of quantitative causal effects in social epidemiology. Read the essay at http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2019-213052
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/complex-systems-models-causal-inference-social-epidemiology - 2025-12-09
In this paper, we describe a newly developed estimation method that fits the additive hazards models to general two-phase sampling studies along with the R package addhazard that implements it. Read the paper at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00739-3
https://www.lupop.lu.se/article/estimating-hazard-rate-difference-case-cohort-studies - 2025-12-09
We sought to understand why researchers do or do not regularly use DAGs by surveying practicing epidemiologists and medical researchers on their knowledge, level of interest, attitudes, and practices towards the use of causal graphs in applied epidemiology and health research. Read the paper at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10654-021-00771-3
We propose to extend our previous approach for the joint analysis of marginal summary statistics to incorporate prior information via a hierarchical model (hJAM). Read the paper at https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa287
