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Tuning multiple imputation by predictive mean matching and local residual draws

Morris, TP; Royston, P; White, IR; (2014) Tuning multiple imputation by predictive mean matching and local residual draws. BMC Medical Research Methodology , 14 , Article 75. 10.1186/1471-2288-14-75. Green open access

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Abstract

Background Multiple imputation is a commonly used method for handling incomplete covariates as it can provide valid inference when data are missing at random. This depends on being able to correctly specify the parametric model used to impute missing values, which may be difficult in many realistic settings. Imputation by predictive mean matching (PMM) borrows an observed value from a donor with a similar predictive mean; imputation by local residual draws (LRD) instead borrows the donor's residual. Both methods relax some assumptions of parametric imputation, promising greater robustness when the imputation model is misspecified. Methods We review development of PMM and LRD and outline the various forms available, and aim to clarify some choices about how and when they should be used. We compare performance to fully parametric imputation in simulation studies, first when the imputation model is correctly specified and then when it is misspecified. Results In using PMM or LRD we strongly caution against using a single donor, the default value in some implementations, and instead advocate sampling from a pool of around 10 donors. We also clarify which matching metric is best. Among the current MI software there are several poor implementations. Conclusions PMM and LRD may have a role for imputing covariates (i) which are not strongly associated with outcome, and (ii) when the imputation model is thought to be slightly but not grossly misspecified.

Type: Article
Title: Tuning multiple imputation by predictive mean matching and local residual draws
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-14-75
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-14-75
Language: English
Additional information: © 2014 Morris et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Keywords: Multiple imputation, Imputation model, Missing data, Predictive mean matching, Local residual draws
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology > MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1431834
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