scholarly journals Design characteristics and statistical methods used in interrupted time series studies evaluating public health interventions: protocol for a review

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e024096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L Turner ◽  
Amalia Karahalios ◽  
Andrew B Forbes ◽  
Monica Taljaard ◽  
Jeremy M Grimshaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Design Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionAn interrupted time series (ITS) design is an important observational design used to examine the effects of an intervention or exposure. This design has particular utility in public health where it may be impracticable or infeasible to use a randomised trial to evaluate health system-wide policies, or examine the impact of exposures (such as earthquakes). There have been relatively few studies examining the design characteristics and statistical methods used to analyse ITS designs. Further, there is a lack of guidance to inform the design and analysis of ITS studies.This is the first study in a larger project that aims to provide tools and guidance for researchers in the design and analysis of ITS studies. The objectives of this study are to (1) examine and report the design characteristics and statistical methods used in a random sample of contemporary ITS studies examining public health interventions or exposures that impact on health-related outcomes, and (2) create a repository of time series data extracted from ITS studies. Results from this study will inform the remainder of the project which will investigate the performance of a range of commonly used statistical methods, and create a repository of input parameters required for sample size calculation.Methods and analysisWe will collate 200 ITS studies evaluating public health interventions or the impact of exposures. ITS studies will be identified from a search of the bibliometric database PubMed between the years 2013 and 2017, combined with stratified random sampling. From eligible studies, we will extract study characteristics, details of the statistical models and estimation methods, effect metrics and parameter estimates. Further, we will extract the time series data when available. We will use systematic review methods in the screening, application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and extraction of data. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarise the data.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required since information will only be extracted from published studies. Dissemination of the results will be through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences. A repository of data extracted from the published ITS studies will be made publicly available.

scholarly journals Comparison of six statistical methods for interrupted time series studies: empirical evaluation of 190 published series

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Turner ◽  
Amalia Karahalios ◽  
Andrew B. Forbes ◽  
Monica Taljaard ◽  
Jeremy M. Grimshaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Statistical Method ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Standard Errors ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The Interrupted Time Series (ITS) is a quasi-experimental design commonly used in public health to evaluate the impact of interventions or exposures. Multiple statistical methods are available to analyse data from ITS studies, but no empirical investigation has examined how the different methods compare when applied to real-world datasets. Methods A random sample of 200 ITS studies identified in a previous methods review were included. Time series data from each of these studies was sought. Each dataset was re-analysed using six statistical methods. Point and confidence interval estimates for level and slope changes, standard errors, p-values and estimates of autocorrelation were compared between methods. Results From the 200 ITS studies, including 230 time series, 190 datasets were obtained. We found that the choice of statistical method can importantly affect the level and slope change point estimates, their standard errors, width of confidence intervals and p-values. Statistical significance (categorised at the 5% level) often differed across the pairwise comparisons of methods, ranging from 4 to 25% disagreement. Estimates of autocorrelation differed depending on the method used and the length of the series. Conclusions The choice of statistical method in ITS studies can lead to substantially different conclusions about the impact of the interruption. Pre-specification of the statistical method is encouraged, and naive conclusions based on statistical significance should be avoided.

scholarly journals Comparison of Six Statistical Methods for Interrupted time Series Studies: Empirical Evaluation of 190 Published Series

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Turner ◽  
Amalia Karahalios ◽  
Andrew Forbes ◽  
Monica Taljaard ◽  
Jeremy Grimshaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Statistical Method ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Standard Errors ◽  
P Values ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The Interrupted Time Series (ITS) is a quasi-experimental design commonly used in public health to evaluate the impact of interventions or exposures. Multiple statistical methods are available to analyse data from ITS studies, but no empirical investigation has examined how the different methods compare when applied to real-world datasets. MethodsA random sample of 200 ITS studies identified in a previous methods review were included. Time series data from each of these studies was sought. Each dataset was re-analysed using six statistical methods. Point and confidence interval estimates for level and slope changes, standard errors, p-values and estimates of autocorrelation were compared between methods. ResultsFrom the 200 ITS studies, including 230 time series, 190 datasets were obtained. We found that the choice of statistical method can importantly affect the level and slope change point estimates, their standard errors, width of confidence intervals and p-values. Statistical significance (categorised at the 5% level) often differed across the pairwise comparisons of methods, ranging from 4% to 25% disagreement. Estimates of autocorrelation differed depending on the method used and the length of the series. ConclusionsThe choice of statistical method in ITS studies can lead to substantially different conclusions about the impact of the interruption. Pre-specification of the statistical method is encouraged, and naive conclusions based on statistical significance should be avoided.

scholarly journals Can synthetic controls improve causal inference in interrupted time series evaluations of public health interventions?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Degli Esposti ◽  
Thees Spreckelsen ◽  
Antonio Gasparrini ◽  
Douglas J Wiebe ◽  
Carl Bonander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Synthetic Control ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Control Series ◽  
Time Series Studies ◽  
Synthetic Controls

Abstract Interrupted time series designs are a valuable quasi-experimental approach for evaluating public health interventions. Interrupted time series extends a single group pre-post comparison by using multiple time points to control for underlying trends. But history bias—confounding by unexpected events occurring at the same time of the intervention—threatens the validity of this design and limits causal inference. Synthetic control methodology, a popular data-driven technique for deriving a control series from a pool of unexposed populations, is increasingly recommended. In this paper, we evaluate if and when synthetic controls can strengthen an interrupted time series design. First, we summarize the main observational study designs used in evaluative research, highlighting their respective uses, strengths, biases and design extensions for addressing these biases. Second, we outline when the use of synthetic controls can strengthen interrupted time series studies and when their combined use may be problematic. Third, we provide recommendations for using synthetic controls in interrupted time series and, using a real-world example, we illustrate the potential pitfalls of using a data-driven approach to identify a suitable control series. Finally, we emphasize the importance of theoretical approaches for informing study design and argue that synthetic control methods are not always well suited for generating a counterfactual that minimizes critical threats to interrupted time series studies. Advances in synthetic control methods bring new opportunities to conduct rigorous research in evaluating public health interventions. However, incorporating synthetic controls in interrupted time series studies may not always nullify important threats to validity nor improve causal inference.

scholarly journals 107 Can synthetic controls improve causal inference in interrupted time series evaluations of public health interventions?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Degli Esposti ◽  
Thees Spreckelsen ◽  
Antonio Gasparrini ◽  
Douglas J Wiebe ◽  
Alexa R Yakubovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Synthetic Controls

scholarly journals Massive social protests amid the pandemic in selected Colombian cities: Did they increase COVID-19 cases?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Moreno-Montoya ◽  
Laura A Rodriguez Villamizar ◽  
Alvaro Javier Idrovo
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Arima Models ◽  
Interrupted Time Series Analysis ◽  
Social Protests ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
The Impact

Background. Since April 28, 2021, in Colombia there are social protests with numerous demonstrations in various cities. This occurs whereas the country faces the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of social protests on the number and trend of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in some selected Colombian cities where social protests had more intensity. Methods. We performed and interrupted time-series analysis (ITSA) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models, based on the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Colombia, between March 1 and May 15, 2021, for the cities of Bogota, Cali, Barranquilla, Medellin, and Bucaramanga. The ITSA models estimated the impact of social demonstrations on the number and trend of cases for each city by using Newey-West standard errors and ARIMA models assessed the overall pattern of the series and effect of the intervention. We considered May 2, 2021, as the intervention date for the analysis, five days after social demonstrations started in the country. Findings. During the study period the number of cases by city was 1,014,815 for Bogota, 192,320 for Cali, 175,269 for Barranquilla, 311,904 for Medellin, and 62,512 for Bucaramanga. Heterogeneous results were found among cities. Only for the cities of Cali and Barranquilla statistically significant changes in trend of the number of cases were obtained after the intervention: positive in the first city, negative in the second one. None ARIMA models show evidence of abrupt changes in the trend of the series for any city and intervention effect was only positive for Bucaramanga. Interpretation. The findings confer solid evidence that social protests had an heterogenous effect on the number and trend of COVID-19 cases. Divergent effects might be related to the epidemiologic time of the pandemic and the characteristics of the social protests. Assessing the effect of social protests within a pandemic is complex and there are several methodological limitations. Further analyses are required with longer time-series data.

EFFECTS OF TREND AND PERIODICITY ON THE CORRELATION DIMENSION AND THE LYAPUNOV EXPONENTS

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 3679-3687 ◽  
Author(s):  
AYDIN A. CECEN ◽  
CAHIT ERKAL
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Lyapunov Exponent ◽  
Lyapunov Exponents ◽  
Correlation Dimension ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Logistic Map ◽  
Model Identification ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Largest Lyapunov Exponent ◽  
The Impact

We present a critical remark on the pitfalls of calculating the correlation dimension and the largest Lyapunov exponent from time series data when trend and periodicity exist. We consider a special case where a time series Zi can be expressed as the sum of two subsystems so that Zi = Xi + Yi and at least one of the subsystems is deterministic. We show that if the trend and periodicity are not properly removed, correlation dimension and Lyapunov exponent estimations yield misleading results, which can severely compromise the results of diagnostic tests and model identification. We also establish an analytic relationship between the largest Lyapunov exponents of the subsystems and that of the whole system. In addition, the impact of a periodic parameter perturbation on the Lyapunov exponent for the logistic map and the Lorenz system is discussed.

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