A recursive clustering scheme for identifying transportable subgroups between multiple RCT populations
M. Jaić (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
Jesse Krijthe – Mentor (TU Delft - Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatics)
R.K.A. Karlsson – Mentor (TU Delft - Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatics)
J.M. Smit – Mentor (TU Delft - Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatics)
Sicco Verwer – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Algorithmics)
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Abstract
Combining data from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) is a widely used method to estimate causal treatment effects. In order to combine data, the property of transportability, under which different covariate vectors exhibit similar treatment benefit, must hold between the RCTs. However, differences in study design, execution, and the underlying effect modifier distributions can violate transportability which could in turn lead to estimating incorrect causal treatment effect estimates. This thesis addresses the challenge of validating transportability between multiple RCTs and identifying subsets of RCTs between which transportability holds. Our contributions include studying a linear regression-based framework for testing transportability between multiple RCTs and a clustering-based approach for identifying transportable RCT subgroups. Through simulations and analysis of real-world RCTs concerning corticosteroid treatment for Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), we evaluate the power, robustness, and limitations of our proposed framework.