Proof of Concept Example for Use of Simulation to Allow Data Pooling Despite Privacy Restrictions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Integrating results from multiple samples is often desirable, but privacy restrictions may preclude full data pooling, and most datasets do not include fully harmonized variable sets. We propose a simulation-based method leveraging partial information across datasets to guide creation of synthetic data based on explicit assumptions about the underlying causal structure that permits pooled analyses that adjust for all desired confounders in the context of privacy restrictions.

Methods

This proof-of-concept project uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. We specified an estimand of interest and a directed acyclic graph (DAG) summarizing the presumed causal structure for the effect of glycated hemoglo

SUBMITTER: Filshtein TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8338788 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature