A shared parameter model for the estimation of longitudinal concomitant intervention effects

Biostatistics. 2011 Oct;12(4):737-49. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxq084. Epub 2011 Jan 24.

Abstract

We investigate a change-point approach for modeling and estimating the regression effects caused by a concomitant intervention in a longitudinal study. Since a concomitant intervention is often introduced when a patient's health status exhibits undesirable trends, statistical models without properly incorporating the intervention and its starting time may lead to biased estimates of the intervention effects. We propose a shared parameter change-point model to evaluate the pre- and postintervention time trends of the response and develop a likelihood-based method for estimating the intervention effects and other parameters. Application and statistical properties of our method are demonstrated through a longitudinal clinical trial in depression and heart disease and a simulation study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Antidepressive Agents / therapeutic use
  • Bias
  • Biostatistics
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / statistics & numerical data*
  • Coronary Disease / therapy
  • Depression / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Likelihood Functions
  • Longitudinal Studies / statistics & numerical data*
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Regression Analysis

Substances

  • Antidepressive Agents