Work

Evaluating the Health Impact of Large-Scale Public Policy Changes: Classical and Novel Approaches

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Large-scale public policy changes are often recommended to improve public health. Despite varying widely—from tobacco taxes to poverty-relief programs—such policies present a common dilemma to public health researchers: how to evaluate their health effects when randomized controlled trials are not possible. Here, we review the state of knowledge and experience of public health researchers who rigorously evaluate the health consequences of large-scale public policy changes. We organize our discussion by detailing approaches to address three common challenges of conducting policy evaluations: distinguishing a policy effect from time trends in health outcomes or preexisting differences between policy-affected and -unaffected communities (using difference-in-differences approaches); constructing a comparison population when a policy affects a population for whom a well-matched comparator is not immediately available (using propensity score or synthetic control approaches); and addressing unobserved confounders by utilizing quasi-random variations in policy exposure (using regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, or near-far matching approaches).

Source: Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

DOI: 10.17615/3sjr-4246

Authors: Basu, Sanjay, Siddiqi, Arjumand, Meghani, Ankita

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Causal Inference Techniques

Subfield: Statistics and Probability

Field: Mathematics

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities