JSM Preliminary Online Program
This is the preliminary program for the 2007 Joint Statistical Meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The views expressed here are those of the individual authors
and not necessarily those of the ASA or its board, officers, or staff.



Back to main JSM 2007 Program page




Activity Number: 173
Type: Invited
Date/Time: Monday, July 30, 2007 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Epidemiology
Abstract - #308097
Title: Instrumental Variables in Pharmacoepidemiology
Author(s): M. Alan Brookhart*+
Companies: Brigham and Women's Hospital
Address: 1620 Tremont St, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02138,
Keywords: pharmacoepidemiology ; instrumental variables
Abstract:

Post-marketing studies of the comparative safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs are often based on health care claims data files. These files contain drug dispensing and clinical outcome information on entire populations followed over extended periods of time. Because these data were collected for administrative purposes rather than for research, they do not capture many important variables that physicians use to make prescribing decisions. Unmeasured confounding, therefore, is particularly worrisome in observational studies of drugs in health care claims data. Statistical methods based on instrumental variables present one possible approach to this problem, provided that suitable instruments can be identified. I describe several potential instruments for use in observational studies of drugs and discuss some of their limitations.


  • The address information is for the authors that have a + after their name.
  • Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

Back to the full JSM 2007 program

JSM 2007 For information, contact jsm@amstat.org or phone (888) 231-3473. If you have questions about the Continuing Education program, please contact the Education Department.
Revised September, 2007