---
title: 'Commentary: Compositional data call for complex interventions.'
description: >-
  Explore this publication on real-world evidence: Commentary: Compositional
  data call for complex interventions..
date: '2019-01-01'
category: Publications
tags:
  - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  - Alexander Breskin
  - Approval & Commercialization
  - 'Yes'
  - Oral Presentation
  - R&D
canonical_url: >-
  https://www.headwaterscience.com/resources/publications/acad-university-of-north-carolina-at-chapel-hill/commentary-compositional-data-call-for-complex/
source: Headwater
license: © 2026 Headwater. All rights reserved.
slug: commentary-compositional-data-call-for-complex
id: 6pNjR071iYVFCjbNs7xVSl
contentType: article
---

## Challenge

Compositional data—where components sum to a constant—violate standard regression assumptions, and standard analytic approaches applied to this data type can yield misleading causal estimates about the effects of behavioral interventions.

## Solution

Target RWE researchers contributed a commentary in IJE highlighting the methodological challenges of compositional data in epidemiology and the need for methods that appropriately handle the constrained nature of such data when estimating intervention effects.

## Use Cases/Links

[Read the publication](https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaa084)