Primary Submission Category: Causal Inference and SUTVA/Consistencies Violations
Using Wearables and Apps to Characterize Your Own Recurring Average Treatment Effects
Authors: Eric J. Daza, Logan Schneider, Igor Matias, Katarzyna Wac,
Presenting Author: Eric J. Daza*
Temporally dense single-person “small data” have become widely available thanks to mobile apps (e.g., that provide patient-reported outcomes) and wearable sensors. Many caregivers and self-trackers want to use these intensive longitudinal data to help a specific person change their behavior to achieve desired health outcomes. Ideally, this involves discerning possible causes from correlations using that person’s own observational time series data. In paper one, we estimate within-individual average treatment effects of sleep duration on physical activity, and vice-versa. We introduce the model-twin randomization (MoTR; “motor”) and propensity score twin (PSTn; “piston”) methods for analyzing Fitbit sensor data. MoTR is a Monte Carlo implementation of the g-formula (i.e., standardization, back-door adjustment); PSTn implements propensity score inverse probability weighting. They estimate idiographic stable recurring effects, as done in n-of-1 trials and single case experimental designs. We characterize and apply both methods to the two authors’ own data, and compare our approaches to standard methods (with possible confounding) to show how to use causal inference to make truly personalized recommendations for health behavior change. In paper two, we apply MoTR to the three authors, thereby providing a guide for using MoTR to investigate your own recurring health conditions—and demonstrating how any suggested effects can differ greatly from those of other individuals.