Tutorial on directed acyclic graphs

Abstract

Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are an intuitive yet rigorous tool to communicate about causal questions in clinical and epidemiologic research and inform study design and statistical analysis. DAGs are constructed to depict prior knowledge about biological and behavioral systems related to specific causal research questions. DAG components portray who receives treatment or experiences exposures; mechanisms by which treatments and exposures operate; and other factors that influence the outcome of interest or which persons are included in an analysis. Once assembled, DAGs - via a few simple rules - guide the researcher in identifying whether the causal effect of interest can be identified without bias and, if so, what must be done either in study design or data analysis to achieve this. Specifically, DAGs can identify variables that, if controlled for in the design or analysis phase, are sufficient to eliminate confounding and some forms of selection bias. DAGs also help recognize variables that, if controlled for, bias the analysis (e.g., mediators or factors influenced by both exposure and outcome). Finally, DAGs help researchers recognize insidious sources of bias introduced by selection of individuals into studies or failure to completely observe all individuals until study outcomes are reached. DAGs, however, are not infallible, largely owing to limitations in prior knowledge about the system in question. In such instances, several alternative DAGs are plausible, and researchers should assess whether results differ meaningfully across analyses guided by different DAGs and be forthright about uncertainty. DAGs are powerful tools to guide the conduct of clinical research.