Health SPHere

Alumni magazine of the Boston University School of Public Healt

Health SPHere

Alumni magazine of the Boston University School of Public Healt

Matching Methods for Causal Inference: A Review and a Look Forward

When estimating causal effects using observational data, it is desirable to replicate a randomized experiment as closely as possible by obtaining treated and control groups with similar covariate distributions. This goal can often be achieved by choosing well-matched samples of the original treated and control groups, thereby reducing bias due to the covariates. Since the 1970s, work on matching methods has examined how to best choose treated and control subjects for comparison. Matching methods are gaining popularity in fields such as economics, epidemiology, medicine and political science. However, until now the literature and related advice has been scattered across disciplines. Researchers who are interested in using matching methods---or developing methods related to matching---do not have a single place to turn to learn about past and current research. This paper provides a structure for thinking about matching methods and guidance on their use, coalescing the existing research (both old and new) and providing a summary of where the literature on matching methods is now and where it should be headed.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-STS313 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Inside Front Cover

Viewbook/course catalog of the Boston University School of Public Health

TECHNOLOGY SERVES THE PEOPLE The Story⋅ of a Co-operative Telemedicine Project by NASA, The Indian Health Service and the Papago People

This monograph is a documented history of the planning and development process of a major advanced telemedicine system call Space Technology Applied to Rural Papago Advanced Health Care (STARPAHC). This history was prepared to document basic processes. Projects such as STARPAHC usually result in volumes of technical system descriptions, evaluation reports and technical performance analyses. This report provides a good description of the high degree and quality of productive functional relationships developed among the participating agencies and the private sector.The project was conceived and sponsored by both the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and Lockheed Missile and Space Company (LMSC). STARPAHC was not the first attempt to implement a telemedicine system in the United States. Ultimately, STARPAHC would provide a full communications range, two-way television, audio and data communications between the central station at Sells, Arizona on the Papago Reservation, and a fixed satellite clinic at Santa Rosa, a regularly scheduled mobile health clinic, and a full facility hospital-based clinic at Phoenix. The program presumed that the telemetry and remote monitoring equipment developed for the space program would have eventually made its way into the open market. The study rests on the conclusion that some form of telemedicine is the invariant pattern of the future. The time periods for the research and demonstration projects were insufficient to reach definitive conclusions regarding the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine in relation to other modes of health service delivery. In an intensively technological system, the capital investment may only be recovered over an extended period of time, and services must be distributed over a large number of patients/clients. Problems with program objectives led to situations where it was not clear whether telemedicine was intended to supplement, enhance, or replace existing delivery systems. Funding was severely curtailed before many of the problems could be resolved. The STARPAHC project may prove to be the most successful model for the future of telemedical diagnostics. In terms of costs, it used the least expensive technology (audio-link and slow-scan TV). In terms of quality, it provided an opportunity to have a second option for diagnostic purposes, clinical decision making, and specialist consultation done rapidly and efficiently. In terms of acceptance, both providers and patients were happy to have the system.Reinitiate funding for telemedicine

Association between smoking, exercise habits and dental checkups among community residents in Japan

Background:Poor lifestyle is a risk factor for oral diseases, and dental checkups are very useful for preventingoral disease. But association between lifestyle and dental checkups is unclear. The aim of this studywas to examine the association between lifestyle and participation in dental checkups.Methods:A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted in a city of Japan, from where wewere asked to evaluate the health promotion program conducted in the city. Three thousand subjects aged20 years or over were randomly selected from about 35,000 inhabitants. Completed questionnaires were obtainedfrom 1,670 persons (741 men and 929 women). The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervalfor having dental checkups was calculated using age-adjusted logistic regression models.Results:Of 1,670 subjects, 57.4% of men and 53.7% of women had dental checkups. The current smokerand ex-smoker rate were 30.2% and 29.2% for men and 9.6% and 10.7% for women, respectively. The proportionof subjects who did not perform 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise twice or more a weekwas 60.6% in men and 70.2% in women. Compared with non-smokers, the OR of having dental checkupswas significantly lower among current smokers:0.59 for men and 0.53 for women. There were no significantdifferences among ex-smokers compared with non-smokers. The OR of having dental checkups wassignificantly lower for women who never performed exercise:0.55.Conclusions:We conclude that people who have poor lifestyle, especially smokers and women who neverperform exercise, should be advised to have dental checkups

IC 013 Guide to University of Texas School of Public Health Records

The University of Texas School of Public Health (SPH) records contains records from the School, as well as related programs and topics. The majority of the collection is made up of copies of the SPH Calendar from 1978-1983 and the SPH Catalog from 1971-1995. See more at https://archives.library.tmc.edu/ic-013