Applied causal inference methods for sequential mediators.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mediation analysis aims at estimating to what extent the effect of an exposure on an outcome is explained by a set of mediators on the causal pathway between the exposure and the outcome. The total effect of the exposure on the outcome can be decomposed into an indirect effect, i.e. the effect explained by the mediators jointly, and a direct effect, i.e. the effect unexplained by the mediators. However finer decompositions are possible in presence of independent or sequential mediators.

Methods

We review four statistical methods to analyse multiple sequential mediators, the inverse odds ratio weighting approach, the inverse probability weighting approach, the imputation approach and the extended imputation approach. These approaches are compared and implemented us

SUBMITTER: Zugna D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9686042 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature