Decomposition Analysis to Identify Intervention Targets for Reducing Disparities.

ABSTRACT: There has been considerable interest in using decomposition methods in epidemiology (mediation analysis) and economics (Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition) to understand how health disparities arise and how they might change upon intervention. It has not been clear when estimates from the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition can be interpreted causally because its implementation does not explicitly address potential confounding of target variables. While mediation analysis does explicitly adjust for confounders of target variables, it typically does so in a way that effectively entails equalizing confounders across racial groups, which may not reflect the intended intervention. Revisiting prior analyses in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on disparities in wages, unemployment, incarceration, an

SUBMITTER: Jackson JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6218173 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature