Am J Epidemiol. 2023 Jan 11:kwad010. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwad010. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Ensuring that patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) have access to optimal medication therapies is a critical challenge in substance use epidemiology. The paper by Rudolph et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2022; XXX(X):XXXX-XXXX) demonstrated that sophisticated data-adaptive statistical techniques can be used to learn optimal, individualized treatment rules which can aid providers in choosing a medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment modality for a particular patient. This important work also highlights the effects of the mathematization of epidemiologic research. Here, we define mathematization and demonstrate how it operates in the context of MOUD effectiveness research using the paper by Rudolph et al. as a springboard. In particular, we address the normative dimension of mathematization, and how it tends to resolve a fundamental tension in epidemiologic practice between technical sophistication and public health considerations in favor of more technical solutions. The process of mathematization is a fundamental part of epidemiology; we argue not for eliminating it but for balancing mathematization and technical demands equally with practical and community-centric public health needs.
PMID:36632844 | DOI:10.1093/aje/kwad010
