A Visual Diagnostic Tool for Causal Inference
Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983) suggested a visual representation, that can be used as a diagnostic tool, for examining whether the relationship between the confounders and the outcome are sufficiently controlled, or whether there is a more complex relationship that requires further adjustment. This short commentary highlights this simple tool, providing an example of its utility along with relevant R code.
The Expert Next Door: A Commentary on Interactions with Friends and Family During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic thrust the field of public health into the spotlight. For many epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and other public health professionals, this caused the professional aspects of our lives to collide with the personal, as friends and family reached out with concerns and questions. Learning how to navigate this space was new for many and required refining our communication depending on context, setting, and audience. Some of us took to social media, utilizing our existing personal accounts to share information after sorting through and summarizing the rapidly emerging literature to keep loved ones safe.
Sulfonylureas as second line treatment for type 2 diabetes
New evidence helps individualise treatment decisions and minimise harm. Sulfonylureas and insulin were the cornerstone of diabetes management until 1998 when metformin became recommended as initial treatment by the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Before 2008, treatments for diabetes were often approved on the basis of their ability to lower glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) by 0.5% (5.5 mmol/mol) or other surrogate outcomes. After the controversy surrounding cardiovascular risk associated with thiazolidinediones, regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency issued guidance for industries to evaluate the cardiovascular safety of antidiabetes drugs.