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An Application of the Inverse Hyperbolic Sine Transformation—A Note

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Abstract

We introduce the inverse hyperbolic sine transformation to health services research. The IHS transformation is unique because it is applicable in regressions where the dependent variable to be transformed may be positive, zero, or negative. In contrast, the most frequently used Box-Cox family of transformations is applicable only when the dependent variable is non-negative (or strictly positive in the special case of log transformation). We apply the IHS transformation to examine the economic benefits of mental health treatment for individuals with depression, where over half of the observations of the dependent variable are negative or zero.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Outcomes Research, Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA

    Mingliang Zhang

  2. Centers for Mental Healthcare Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA and

    John C. Fortney & Kathryn M. Rost

  3. Center for Mental Health and Outcomes Research, Health Services Research and Development, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Little Rock, AR, USA FortneyJohnC@exchange.uams.edu

    John C. Fortney

  4. Center for Applied Research and Evaluation, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    John M. Tilford

Authors
  1. Mingliang Zhang
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  2. John C. Fortney
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  3. John M. Tilford
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  4. Kathryn M. Rost
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Correspondence to Mingliang Zhang.

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Zhang, M., Fortney, J.C., Tilford, J.M. et al. An Application of the Inverse Hyperbolic Sine Transformation—A Note. Health Services & Outcomes Research Methodology 1, 165–171 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012593022758

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012593022758

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