Section outline

  • Lecture:  Basic analytic issues in HDR

    Given the complex social and biologic context in which health disparities are manifested, research in this areas requires nuanced application of statistical concepts related to confounding, mediation, moderation, and clustering. In this lecture, we will highlight aspects of statistical analysis of particular relevance to health disparities, including how to quantify disparities and evaluate determinants of inequalities, how to best build multivariate models, how to investigate race/SES interactions, principles of sub-group reporting and statistical power in health disparities research, as well as an overview of multilevel analyses.

    Faculty:  Anusha M Vable

    Location:     Mission Hall 1400

    • Session Slides:

    • Basic analysis issues for Health Disparities Research no answers File

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

    • Victora CG et al. The Role of Conceptual Frameworks in Epidemiological Analysis: A Hierarchical Approach. International Journal of Epidemiology. Voll. 26. No.1 1997 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Vable AM et al. Do the health benefits of education vary by sociodemographic subgroup? Differential returns to education and implications for health inequities. Annals of Epidemiology Vol 28 pg. 759-766. 2018 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Diez-Roux, AV. Bringing Context Back into Epidemiology: Variables and Fallacies in Multilevel Analysis. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 88, No. 2. 1998 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Lorch SA et al. Factors That Mediate Racial/Ethnic Disparities in US Fetal Death Rates. American Journal of Phublic Health. Vol 102, No.10. October 2012 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Optional Reading:

    • Coley SL. Does Neighborhood Risk Explain Racial Disparities in Low Birth Weight among Infants Born to Adolescent Mothers? J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2016 April ; 29(2): 122–129. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Merlo J et al. A brief conceptual tutorial of multilevel analysis in social epidemiology: linking the statistical concept of clustering to the idea of contextual phenomenon. J Epidemiol Community Health 2005;59:443–449 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Kawachi, I and Subramanian SV. Measuring and Modeling the Social and Geographic Context of Trauma: A Multilevel Modeling Approach. Journal of Traumatic Stress. Vol. 19, No. 2. 2006 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Resources:

    • Basic Analysis Issues for health disparities worksheet File
    • empirical example of confounding and mediation File

    • Assignment:

      Please post to the forum by 1pm on the day of class

      1. What are 3 different ways to account for SES in a analytic models when investigating racial/ethnic health disparities? Briefly discuss the interpretations/implications of each approach as it relates to understanding health disparities by race/ethnicity.

      2. Describe a potential effect modifier, mediator, or contextual variable (for definition of contextual variable, see Diez-Roux reading) for an association of interest to you and relevant to health disparities. For example, for investigating the association between education and hypertension, I might be interested in evaluating whether the association between years of education and hypertension is different for Black men than for White men. Describe how you would study whether this relationship exists.

      3. Respond to one other person's post on the forum with a comment or suggestion.