Real World Health Care Data Analysis

Chapter 6: Matching Methods for Estimating Causal Treatment Effects

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Distance Metrics

6.2.1 Exact Distance Measure

6.2.2 Mahalanobis Distance Measure

6.2.3 Propensity Score Distance Measure

6.2.4 Linear Propensity Score Distance Measure

6.2.5 Some Considerations in Choosing Distance Measures

6.3 Matching Constraints

6.3.1 Calipers

6.3.2 Matching With and Without Replacement

6.3.3 Fixed Ratio Versus Variable Ratio Matching

6.4 Matching Algorithms

6.4.1 Nearest Neighbor Matching

6.4.2 Optimal Matching

6.4.3 Variable Ratio Matching

6.4.4 Full Matching

6.4.5 Discussion: Selecting the Matching Constraints and Algorithm

6.5 Example: Matching Methods Applied to the Simulated REFLECTIONS Data

6.5.1 Data Description

6.5.2 Computation ...