A general joint model for longitudinal measurements and competing risks survival data with heterogeneous random effects

Lifetime Data Anal. 2011 Jan;17(1):80-100. doi: 10.1007/s10985-010-9169-6. Epub 2010 Jun 12.

Abstract

This article studies a general joint model for longitudinal measurements and competing risks survival data. The model consists of a linear mixed effects sub-model for the longitudinal outcome, a proportional cause-specific hazards frailty sub-model for the competing risks survival data, and a regression sub-model for the variance-covariance matrix of the multivariate latent random effects based on a modified Cholesky decomposition. The model provides a useful approach to adjust for non-ignorable missing data due to dropout for the longitudinal outcome, enables analysis of the survival outcome with informative censoring and intermittently measured time-dependent covariates, as well as joint analysis of the longitudinal and survival outcomes. Unlike previously studied joint models, our model allows for heterogeneous random covariance matrices. It also offers a framework to assess the homogeneous covariance assumption of existing joint models. A Bayesian MCMC procedure is developed for parameter estimation and inference. Its performances and frequentist properties are investigated using simulations. A real data example is used to illustrate the usefulness of the approach.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Bayes Theorem*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies / methods*
  • Markov Chains
  • Models, Statistical
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Proportional Hazards Models*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Survival Analysis