News & Events

Published On: 8/25/2022

New Approaches for Developing Real-World Evidence Presented by Target RWE at the 2022 International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology (ICPE)

DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Target RWE will present a range of methodological and applied research at the 2022 International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology's annual conference (ICPE) in Copenhagen. Target RWE scientists will deliver six oral and two poster presentations.

"The work being presented at ICPE by my colleagues at Target RWE highlights the methodological rigor and creativity that characterize our team," said M. Alan Brookhart, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Target RWE. "We are committed to answering challenging problems in healthcare using the best available epidemiologic and statistical methods."

Target RWE scientists will be giving presentations on causal inference methods, an application of machine learning models in fracture risk prediction, and new research that informs care for patients with COVID-19, including a use of causal inference methods to identify optimal use of remdesivir in hospitalized COVID-19.

Target RWE presentations include:

Friday, August 26th
The impact of parametric assumptions on the bias-variance tradeoff for causal analysis of time-to-event outcomes, Andrew G. Allmon, DrPH, 2:00 - 2:15 p.m. CEST. Parametric assumptions have the potential to reduce the variance of effect estimates, but making such assumptions comes at the cost of potential for bias. This research evaluates how parametric assumptions affect bias and variance of causal estimation of time-to-event outcomes.

Negative control outcomes to assess the comparability of biologics versus small-molecule therapeutics for osteoporosis: Considerations for differential non-adherence, Lydia Feinstein, PhD, MSPH, 5:30 - 5:45 p.m. CEST. A growing focus on biologics across many therapeutic areas raises questions about unmeasured adherence mechanisms among users of these injectable therapies versus oral small-molecule drugs, which are typically less costly, dosed at more frequent intervals, and unlikely to require administration by a medical professional. Negative control outcomes (NCOs) can be used to detect residual bias when differential adherence is suspected. This study used NCOs to assess the comparability of women receiving biannual denosumab injections to those receiving once-weekly oral alendronate for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Saturday, August 27th
One design to rule them all: The clone-censor-weight design as a general framework for epidemiologic studies, Alexander Breskin, PhD, MPH, 8:00 - 8:15 a.m. CEST. The clone-censor-weight approach, specifically intended to mimic a randomized controlled trial, provides a useful paradigm to unify the theory underlying most pharmacoepidemiologic study frameworks. This research compares the results of a simulated study using two distinct study frameworks: a new user design and a clone-censor-weight design.

Risk factors for mortality and intensive care requirements among pediatric patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States, Nuvan Rathnayaka, 8:15 – 8:30 a.m. CEST. Though the ongoing pandemic has generated an overwhelming amount of information on COVID-19, there remains limited data on conditions that are associated with serious outcomes among hospitalized pediatric patients. This research describes the factors associated with intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation use, and mortality among pediatric patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States.

Fracture risk estimation in post-menopausal women: a comparison of machine learning methods and software systems, David Pritchard, PhD, MS, 1:15 - 1:30 p.m. CEST. Predictive modeling of health outcomes is a key tool for identifying high-risk patients who may benefit from more intensive therapy or targeted quality improvement interventions. Using a large commercial claims database, this study compared various machine learning methods and censored data approaches for estimation of one-year fracture risk among women over the age of 50 years old.

Sunday, August 28th
The effect of remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 on mortality among hospitalized patients, Alexander Breskin, PhD, MPH, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. CEST. Evidence underpinning guidelines for remdesivir for certain patients hospitalized with COVID-19 is limited, based on subgroup analyses from randomized trials, early observational studies, or expert opinion. Further investigation is needed to better inform the guidelines with regards to the effectiveness of remdesivir in these patients. This research estimated the effect of a remdesivir initiation within two days of hospital admission compared with no remdesivir treatment on mortality among hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Target RWE posters include:
Discharged where? The importance of understanding discharge dispositions when estimating in-hospital mortality, Catherine Wiener, MA (presented by M. Alan Brookhart, PhD), Poster Session A; August 26, 2022. Choices for classifying hospital discharge dispositions as censoring events, competing risks, or outcomes of interest may have large impacts on study results. This research assessed the impact of misclassifying certain discharge dispositions as censoring or competing events on the estimation of in-hospital mortality incidence in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

In-hospital treatment patterns among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States, Nuvan Rathnayaka, Poster Session: Spotlight Session – Drug Utilization Research; August 27, 2022. Treatments for hospitalized COVID-19 patients remain important due to emerging variants, waning vaccine effectiveness, and suboptimal vaccine uptake. Several studies have described the use of individual treatments, but few have described treatment patterns over the course of hospitalization. This study describes COVID-19 treatment patterns for hospitalized patients in the United States.

As a sponsor of ICPE 2022, Target RWE additionally unveiled its new brand and Syndicated Science™ analytical solution at the event. Visit us to learn more about our industry-leading RWD and advanced RWE analytics at www.targetrwe.com.