Intervention Model Template

Important

To begin documenting an intervention for a Vivarium simulation, start by following these steps (after you have created a new git branch to work in):

  1. Make a subdirectory intervention_name/ in the folder intervention_models , where intervention_name is replaced with the (potentially shortened) name of the intervention you are modeling. This subdirectory is where you will put all the files for your model documentation, including this document, image files, .csv files, etc.

  2. Copy this template into your subdirectory and rename it index.rst.

  3. Replace the internal hyperlink target .. _intervention_model_template: at the top of this file with a unique reference label for your cause. The reference label should have the form .. _intervention_{intervention_name}:, where {intervention_name} is replaced with a unique descriptive name or abbreviation for your cause, e.g. .. _intervention_bep:.

  4. Delete this document’s title above:

    ----------------------------
    Intervention Model Template
    ----------------------------
    

    Once the above title is deleted, all the other section titles will be promoted up one level.

Full Name of Intervention

Todo

Add a brief introductory paragraph for this document.

Abbreviations

Abbreviation

Definition

Note

Todo

Fill out table with any abbreviations and their definitions used in this document.

Intervention Overview

Todo

Add a general narrative overview of the intervention, including what it is, what outcomes it affects, if/how/when/where it has been used, etc.

Todo

Fill out the following table with a list of known outcomes affected by the intervention, regardless of if they will be included in the simulation model or not, as it is important to recognize potential unmodeled effects of the intervention and note them as limitations as applicable.

The table below provides example entries for large scale food fortification with iron.

Affected Outcomes

Outcome

Effect

Modeled?

Note (ex: is this relationship direct or mediated?)

Hemoglobin concentration

Increases population mean

Yes

Malaria

Increases incidence rate

No

Baseline Coverage Data

Todo

Document known baseline coverage data, using the table below if appropriate

Baseline coverage data

Location

Subpopulation

Coverage parameter

Value

Note

Vivarium Modeling Strategy

Todo

Add an overview of the Vivarium modeling section.

Todo

Fill out the following table with all of the affected measures that have vivarium modeling strategies documented

Modeled Outcomes

Outcome

Outcome type

Outcome ID

Affected measure

Effect size measure

Effect size

Note

Lung cancer

GBD cause

c426

Preclinical incidence rate

Relative risk

0.8 (95% CI: 0.7, 1.01)

Affected Outcome #1

Important

Copy and paste this section for each affected outcome included in this document

Todo

Replace “Risk Outcome Pair #1” with the name of an affected entity for which a modeling strategy will be detailed. For additional risk outcome pairs, copy this section as many times as necessary and update the titles accordingly.

Todo

Link to existing document of the affected outcome (ex: cause or risk exposure model document)

Todo

Describe exactly what measure the intervention will affect

Todo

Fill out the tables below

Affected Outcome #1 Restrictions

Restriction

Value

Note

Male only

Female only

Age group start

Age group end

Other

Affected Outcome #1 Effect Size

Population

Effect size

Note

Malnourished women

+50 g birthweight

Adequately nourished women

+10 g birthweight

Todo

Describe exactly how to apply the effect sizes to the affected measures documented above

Todo

Note research considerations related to generalizability of the effect sizes listed above as well as the strength of the causal criteria, as discussed on the general research consideration document.

Assumptions and Limitations
Validation and Verification Criteria