As a generalization of the accelerated failure time models, we consider parametric models of lifetime Y, where the conditional mean E(Y|X;beta) can depend nonlinearly on the covariates X and some parameters beta. The error distribution can be heteroscedastic and dependent on X. With observed data subject to right censoring, we propose regression analysis for beta based on Kaplan-Meier estimates of the means over several regions of X. Consistency and asymptotic distributional properties of the estimators are established under general conditions. A resulting estimator of beta is shown to be the sum of two possibly dependent asymptotic normal quantities, based on which conservative confidence intervals and tests are derived. Simulation studies are conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed estimator and to compare it with Buckley-Jame's method. To illustrate the methodology, we study an example with kidney transplant data, where a nonlinear relationship called "mixtures-of-experts", proposed in the neural networks literature, is used to model the relationship between the survival time and the age of the patients.

Ed. by Hubbard, Alan E. / van der Laan, Mark J.
1 Issue per year
IMPACT FACTOR 2011: 1.284
Issues
Volume 7 (2011)
Volume 6 (2010)
Volume 5 (2009)
Volume 4 (2008)
Volume 3 (2007)
Volume 2 (2006)
Volume 1 (2005)
Most Downloaded Articles
- An Introduction to Causal Inference by Pearl, Judea
- Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies with Unmeasured Confounders by McCandless, Lawrence C.
- Accuracy of Conventional and Marginal Structural Cox Model Estimators: A Simulation Study by Xiao, Yongling/ Abrahamowicz, Michal and Moodie, Erica E. M.
- Evaluating treatment effectiveness in patient subgroups: a comparison of propensity score methods with an automated matching approach by Radice, Rosalba/ Ramsahai, Roland/ Grieve, Richard/ Kreif, Noemi/ Sadique, Zia and Sekhon, Jasjeet S.
- A Refreshing Account of Principal Stratification by Mealli, Fabrizia and Mattei, Alessandra
Regression Analysis of Mean Lifetime: Exploring Nonlinear Relationship with Heteroscedasticity
Zhiping Sun / Wenxin Jiang
1Merck & Co.
1Northwestern University
Citation Information: The International Journal of Biostatistics. Volume 3, Issue 1, Pages –, ISSN (Online) 1557-4679, DOI: 10.2202/1557-4679.1035, March 2007
Publication History:
- Published Online:
- 2007-03-27
Keywords: accelerated failure time model; asymptotic normality; heteroscedasticity; Kaplan-Meier estimate; mixtures of experts; nonlinear regression


















Comments (0)