{"doi":"10.1093/aje/kwaf209","title":"Obtaining population-based estimates for survey data using Bayesian hierarchical models with poststratification","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>For large-scale surveys such as the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), investigators may wish to combine data from two (or more) cohorts in a single analysis to obtain larger sample sizes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to combine the 2011 and 2015 NHATS cohorts while retaining the sample weights. We applied Bayesian hierarchical models with poststratification as an alternative strategy for obtaining population-based estimates from NHATS. As proof of principle, we compared prevalence estimates of frailty obtained from our Bayesian approach with those obtained from the 2011 and 2015 cohorts using the NHATS sample weights. Once validated, we applied our strategy to combine the cohorts into a single analytical dataset without overlap of participants, and generated Bayesian estimates of frailty for the combined cohort. Estimates from the Bayesian model closely matched the weighted NHATS estimates. The ability to combine cohorts while generating population-based estimates will allow investigators to address questions that require larger sample sizes, thereby enhancing the value of NHATS to the scientific community.</jats:p>","journal":"American Journal of Epidemiology","year":2026,"id":669007,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":242022,"name":"Thomas M. Gill","orcid":"0000-0002-6450-0368","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":313952,"name":"Karen Bandeen‐Roche","orcid":"0000-0003-3895-8313","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":403084,"name":"Robert D. Becher","orcid":"0000-0002-3717-865X","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":258454,"name":"Kendra Davis‐Plourde","orcid":"0000-0001-6654-0710","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":371654,"name":"Emma Zang","orcid":"0000-0002-5700-3179","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1074879,"name":"Yunxuan Zhang","orcid":"0000-0003-2479-7723","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Obtaining population-based estimates for survey data using Bayesian hierarchical models with poststratification.","abstract":"For large-scale surveys such as the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), investigators may wish to combine data from two (or more) cohorts in a single analysis to obtain larger sample sizes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to combine the 2011 and 2015 NHATS cohorts while retaining the sample weights. We applied Bayesian hierarchical models with poststratification as an alternative strategy for obtaining population-based estimates from NHATS. As proof of principle, we compared prevalence estimates of frailty obtained from our Bayesian approach with those obtained from the 2011 and 2015 cohorts using the NHATS sample weights. Once validated, we applied our strategy to combine the cohorts into a single analytical dataset without overlap of participants, and generated Bayesian estimates of frailty for the combined cohort. Estimates from the Bayesian model closely matched the weighted NHATS estimates. The ability to combine cohorts while generating population-based estimates will allow investigators to address questions that require larger sample sizes, thereby enhancing the value of NHATS to the scientific community.","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"40977048","pmcid":"PMC12679711","openalex_id":null,"authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"NIMHD NIH HHS","grant_id":"R01 MD017298","title":null},{"funder_name":"NIA NIH HHS","grant_id":"P30 AG021342","title":null},{"funder_name":"NIA NIH HHS","grant_id":"P30 AG021334","title":null}],"total_grants":3,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"green","license":null,"oa_locations":[{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12679711/","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":[],"mesh_terms":["Humans","Health Surveys","Prevalence","Models, Statistical","Bayes Theorem","Sample Size","Aged","Aged, 80 and over","Middle Aged","United States","Female","Male","Frailty"],"keywords":["Bayesian Methods","Nhats","Survey Weights"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-14T13:33:02.359122Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}