A Note on G-Estimation of Causal Risk Ratios

Am J Epidemiol. 2018 May 1;187(5):1079-1084. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwx347.

Abstract

G-estimation is a flexible, semiparametric approach for estimating exposure effects in epidemiologic studies. It has several underappreciated advantages over other propensity score-based methods popular in epidemiology, which we review in this article. However, it is rarely used in practice, due to a lack of off-the-shelf software. To rectify this, we show a simple trick for obtaining G-estimators of causal risk ratios using existing generalized estimating equations software. We extend the procedure to more complex settings with time-varying confounders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biometry / methods*
  • Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic
  • Humans
  • Odds Ratio*
  • Software
  • Statistics as Topic / methods*