Minimizing Confounding Bias in Observational Studies: Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (IPTW)

Minimizing Confounding Bias in Observational Studies: Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (IPTW)

Summary

This lecture by Dr. Platt covers an exposure-based method of minimizing confounding known as inverse probability of treatment weighting.

For observational studies of drugs, researchers seeking to control for confounding often have a better understanding of the predictors of drug exposure than they do of the complex etiology of the disease under study. Since conventional methods aim to eliminate confounding by controlling for predictors of disease, they may sometimes be less useful than methods of control that are based on predicting exposure. This methods lecture will cover an exposure-based method known as IPTW, including: counterfactuals and average causal effects; inverse probability weighting to create a pseudo-population; stabilization; and implementation/an example.