In the investigation of disease dynamics, the effect of covariates on the hazard function is a major topic. Some recent smoothed estimation methods have been proposed, both frequentist and Bayesian, based on the relat...In the investigation of disease dynamics, the effect of covariates on the hazard function is a major topic. Some recent smoothed estimation methods have been proposed, both frequentist and Bayesian, based on the relationship between penalized splines and mixed models theory. These approaches are also motivated by the possibility of using automatic procedures for determining the optimal amount of smoothing. However, estimation algorithms involve an analytically intractable hazard function, and thus require ad-hoc software routines. We propose a more user-friendly alternative, consisting in regularized estimation of piecewise exponential models by Bayesian P-splines. A further facilitation is that widespread Bayesian software, such as WinBUGS, can be used. The aim is assessing the robustness of this approach with respect to different prior functions and penalties. A large dataset from breast cancer patients, where results from validated clinical studies are available, is used as a benchmark to evaluate the reliability of the estimates. A second dataset from a small case series of sarcoma patients is used for evaluating the performances of the PE model as a tool for exploratory analysis. Concerning breast cancer data, the estimates are robust with respect to priors and penalties, and consistent with clinical knowledge. Concerning soft tissue sarcoma data, the estimates of the hazard function are sensitive with respect to the prior for the smoothing parameter, whereas the estimates of regression coefficients are robust. In conclusion, Gibbs sampling results an efficient computational strategy. The issue of the sensitivity with respect to the priors concerns only the estimates of the hazard function, and seems more likely to occur when non-large case series are investigated, calling for tailored solutions.展开更多
It is well known that spline smoothing estimator relates to the Bayesian estimate under partially informative normal prior. In this paper, we derive the conditions for the pro- priety of the posterior in the nonparame...It is well known that spline smoothing estimator relates to the Bayesian estimate under partially informative normal prior. In this paper, we derive the conditions for the pro- priety of the posterior in the nonparametric mixed effects model under this class of partially informative normal prior for fixed effect with inverse gamma priors on the variance compo- nents and hierarchical priors for covariance matrix of random effect, then we explore the Gibbs sampling procedure.展开更多
文摘In the investigation of disease dynamics, the effect of covariates on the hazard function is a major topic. Some recent smoothed estimation methods have been proposed, both frequentist and Bayesian, based on the relationship between penalized splines and mixed models theory. These approaches are also motivated by the possibility of using automatic procedures for determining the optimal amount of smoothing. However, estimation algorithms involve an analytically intractable hazard function, and thus require ad-hoc software routines. We propose a more user-friendly alternative, consisting in regularized estimation of piecewise exponential models by Bayesian P-splines. A further facilitation is that widespread Bayesian software, such as WinBUGS, can be used. The aim is assessing the robustness of this approach with respect to different prior functions and penalties. A large dataset from breast cancer patients, where results from validated clinical studies are available, is used as a benchmark to evaluate the reliability of the estimates. A second dataset from a small case series of sarcoma patients is used for evaluating the performances of the PE model as a tool for exploratory analysis. Concerning breast cancer data, the estimates are robust with respect to priors and penalties, and consistent with clinical knowledge. Concerning soft tissue sarcoma data, the estimates of the hazard function are sensitive with respect to the prior for the smoothing parameter, whereas the estimates of regression coefficients are robust. In conclusion, Gibbs sampling results an efficient computational strategy. The issue of the sensitivity with respect to the priors concerns only the estimates of the hazard function, and seems more likely to occur when non-large case series are investigated, calling for tailored solutions.
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China(11201345,11271136)
文摘It is well known that spline smoothing estimator relates to the Bayesian estimate under partially informative normal prior. In this paper, we derive the conditions for the pro- priety of the posterior in the nonparametric mixed effects model under this class of partially informative normal prior for fixed effect with inverse gamma priors on the variance compo- nents and hierarchical priors for covariance matrix of random effect, then we explore the Gibbs sampling procedure.
