Data collaboration for causal inference from limited medical testing and medication data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Nakayama, Tomoru, Kawamata, Yuji, Toyoda, Akihiro, Imakura, Akira, Kagawa, Rina, Sanuki, Masaru, Tsunoda, Ryoya, Yamagata, Kunihiro, Sakurai, Tetsuya, Okada, Yukihiko
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Nakayama, Tomoru
Kawamata, Yuji
Toyoda, Akihiro
Imakura, Akira
Kagawa, Rina
Sanuki, Masaru
Tsunoda, Ryoya
Yamagata, Kunihiro
Sakurai, Tetsuya
Okada, Yukihiko
author_facet Nakayama, Tomoru
Kawamata, Yuji
Toyoda, Akihiro
Imakura, Akira
Kagawa, Rina
Sanuki, Masaru
Tsunoda, Ryoya
Yamagata, Kunihiro
Sakurai, Tetsuya
Okada, Yukihiko
contents Observational studies enable causal inferences when randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are not feasible. However, integrating sensitive medical data across multiple institutions introduces significant privacy challenges. The data collaboration quasi-experiment (DC-QE) framework addresses these concerns by sharing "intermediate representations" -- dimensionality-reduced data derived from raw data -- instead of the raw data. While the DC-QE can estimate treatment effects, its application to medical data remains unexplored. This study applied the DC-QE framework to medical data from a single institution to simulate distributed data environments under independent and identically distributed (IID) and non-IID conditions. We propose a novel method for generating intermediate representations within the DC-QE framework. Experimental results demonstrated that DC-QE consistently outperformed individual analyses across various accuracy metrics, closely approximating the performance of centralized analysis. The proposed method further improved performance, particularly under non-IID conditions. These outcomes highlight the potential of the DC-QE framework as a robust approach for privacy-preserving causal inferences in healthcare. Broader adoption of this framework and increased use of intermediate representations could grant researchers access to larger, more diverse datasets while safeguarding patient confidentiality. This approach may ultimately aid in identifying previously unrecognized causal relationships, support drug repurposing efforts, and enhance therapeutic interventions for rare diseases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_06511
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Data collaboration for causal inference from limited medical testing and medication data
Nakayama, Tomoru
Kawamata, Yuji
Toyoda, Akihiro
Imakura, Akira
Kagawa, Rina
Sanuki, Masaru
Tsunoda, Ryoya
Yamagata, Kunihiro
Sakurai, Tetsuya
Okada, Yukihiko
Methodology
Observational studies enable causal inferences when randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are not feasible. However, integrating sensitive medical data across multiple institutions introduces significant privacy challenges. The data collaboration quasi-experiment (DC-QE) framework addresses these concerns by sharing "intermediate representations" -- dimensionality-reduced data derived from raw data -- instead of the raw data. While the DC-QE can estimate treatment effects, its application to medical data remains unexplored. This study applied the DC-QE framework to medical data from a single institution to simulate distributed data environments under independent and identically distributed (IID) and non-IID conditions. We propose a novel method for generating intermediate representations within the DC-QE framework. Experimental results demonstrated that DC-QE consistently outperformed individual analyses across various accuracy metrics, closely approximating the performance of centralized analysis. The proposed method further improved performance, particularly under non-IID conditions. These outcomes highlight the potential of the DC-QE framework as a robust approach for privacy-preserving causal inferences in healthcare. Broader adoption of this framework and increased use of intermediate representations could grant researchers access to larger, more diverse datasets while safeguarding patient confidentiality. This approach may ultimately aid in identifying previously unrecognized causal relationships, support drug repurposing efforts, and enhance therapeutic interventions for rare diseases.
title Data collaboration for causal inference from limited medical testing and medication data
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.06511