Applied mediation analyses: a review and tutorial

Theis Lange, Kim Wadt Hansen, Rikke Sørensen, Søren Galatius

31 Citations (Scopus)
177 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In recent years, mediation analysis has emerged as a powerful tool to disentangle causal pathways from an exposure/treatment to clinically relevant outcomes. Mediation analysis has been applied in scientific fields as diverse as labour market relations and randomized clinical trials of heart disease treatments. In parallel to these applications, the underlying mathematical theory and computer tools have been refined. This combined review and tutorial will introduce the reader to modern mediation analysis including: the mathematical framework; required assumptions; and software implementation in the R package medflex. All results are illustrated using a recent study on the causal pathways stemming from the early invasive treatment of acute coronary syndrome, for which the rich Danish population registers allow us to follow patients' medication use and more after being discharged from hospital.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2017035
JournalEpidemiology and health
Volume39
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Journal Article
  • Review

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