Evaluating Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparisons in Practice: A Case Study of Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
Differences in patient characteristics across trials may bias efficacy estimates from indirect treatment comparisons. To address this issue, matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC) measures treatment efficacy after weighting individual patient data to match patient characteristics across trials. To date, however, there is no consensus on how best to implement MAIC. To address this issue, we applied MAIC to measure how two attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatments (guanfacine extended release and atomoxetine hydrochloride) affect patients' ADHD symptoms, as measured by the ADHD Rating Scale IV score. We tested MAIC sensitivity to: matched patient characteristics, matched statistical moments, weighting matrix, and placebo-arm matching (i.e., matching on outcomes in the placebo arm). After applying MAIC, guanfacine and atomoxetine had similar reductions in ADHD symptoms (Δ: 0.4, p < 0.737). The results were similar for three of four sensitivity analyses. When we applied MAIC with placebo-arm matching, however, guanfacine reduced symptoms more than atomoxetine (Δ: -3.9, p < 0.004). We discuss the implication of this finding and advise MAIC practitioners to carefully consider the use of placebo-arm matching, depending on the presence of residual confounding across trials. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Jason
J
Shafrin
Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Anshu
A
Shrestha
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Amitabh
A
Chandra
Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research and Epidemiology, Shire, Wayne, PA, USA.
M Haim
MH
Erder
Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research and Epidemiology, Shire, Wayne, PA, USA.
Vanja
V
Sikirica
D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000069445:Atomoxetine Hydrochloride / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015982:Bias; D002648:Child; D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research; D005260:Female; D016316:Guanfacine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors; D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; D016316:Guanfacine; D000069445:Atomoxetine Hydrochloride
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; indirect comparisons; matching-adjusted indirect comparison