Term: Propensity Scores

Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2008-09-09

Definition:

Propensity scores are used to estimate the effect of receiving treatment when random assignment of treatments to subjects is not feasible. The estimated propensity score for a subject is the conditional probability of being assigned to a particular treatment given a vector of observed covariates (Newgard CD et al., 2004; Rosenbaum P and Rubin D, 1983).

For more detailed information on propensity score matching, see the Propensity Score Matching in Observational Studies pdf document on the MCHP website.

Related terms 

• High-Dimensional Propensity Score (HDPS)
• Inverse Probability Treatment Weighting (IPTW)

Links 

• MCHP Documentation - Propensity Score Matching in Observational Studies (pdf)

References 

• Newgard CD, Hedges JR, Arthur M, Mullins RJ. Advanced statistics: the propensity score--a method for estimating treatment effect in observational research. Academic Emergency Medicine 2004;11(9):953-961. [Abstract] (View)
• Rosenbaum P, Rubin D. The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for casual effects. Biometrika 1983;70(1):41-55.(View)

Term used in 

• Martens P, Nickel N, Forget E, Lix L, Turner D, Prior H, Walld R, Soodeen RA, Rajotte L, Ekuma O. The Cost of Smoking: A Manitoba Study. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2015. [Report] [Summary] [Updates and Errata] [Additional Materials] (View)