To address regional heterogeneity in multicenter studies, and to explore the association between sleep duration and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in the Chinese elderly population using a federated causal learning framework.
Data was obtained from the 2020 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A total of 10 638 adults aged 60 and above were included. To simulate multi-center collaboration scenarios with real regional heterogeneity, the original dataset was divided into seven geographically distributed datasets. A federated augmented inverse probability weighting (AIPW) estimator was used to estimate causal effects with comparison to centralized models. Subgroup analyses by gender were conducted to explore effect heterogeneity. The robustness of the method was explored by a sensitivity analysis.
Estimations from the federated causal learning models were consistent with those from the centralized model. Abnormal sleep duration was a significant factor influencing CVD risk. Compared to normal sleepers, short sleepers had a significantly increased risk of CVD (OR=1.029, 95% CI:1.016-1.042). Long sleepers also showed elevated risk (OR=1.019, 95% CI:1.005-1.034). The subgroup analysis revealed significant gender differences, and the sensitivity analysis also validated the robustness of the model.
In multicenter research, the federated causal learning systematically controls for confounders and regional heterogeneity. It provides methodological support for future privacy-preserving cross-center collaborative research.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |