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New multivariate tests for assessing covariate balance in matched observational studies

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  • Hao Chen
  • Dylan S. Small

Abstract

We propose new tests for assessing whether covariates in a treatment group and matched control group are balanced in observational studies. The tests exhibit high power under a wide range of multivariate alternatives, some of which existing tests have little power for. The asymptotic permutation null distributions of the proposed tests are studied and the P‐values calculated through the asymptotic results work well in simulation studies, facilitating the application of the test to large data sets. The tests are illustrated in a study of the effect of smoking on blood lead levels. The proposed tests are implemented in an R package BalanceCheck.

Suggested Citation

  • Hao Chen & Dylan S. Small, 2022. "New multivariate tests for assessing covariate balance in matched observational studies," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 78(1), pages 202-213, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:biomet:v:78:y:2022:i:1:p:202-213
    DOI: 10.1111/biom.13395
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jesse Y. Hsu & Dylan S. Small, 2013. "Calibrating Sensitivity Analyses to Observed Covariates in Observational Studies," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 69(4), pages 803-811, December.
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    6. Heller, Ruth & Rosenbaum, Paul R. & Small, Dylan S., 2010. "Using the Cross-Match Test to Appraise Covariate Balance in Matched Pairs," The American Statistician, American Statistical Association, vol. 64(4), pages 299-309.
    7. Kosuke Imai & Gary King & Elizabeth A. Stuart, 2008. "Misunderstandings between experimentalists and observationalists about causal inference," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 171(2), pages 481-502, April.
    8. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bo Zhang, 2023. "Efficient algorithms for building representative matched pairs with enhanced generalizability," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 79(4), pages 3981-3997, December.

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