Stat Med. 1997 Apr 30;16(8):925-40. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
We consider application of the Wei-Lin-Weissfeld (WLW) method for
multiple failure time data when analysing a disease process consisting
of a recurring outcome, such as clinical progression, and a terminating
outcome, such as death. In order to adapt WLW for this situation,
'events' must be specified that define multiple failure times and
whether these are censored. Various choices of events are possible, and
each corresponds to inferences about a different aspect of the
underlying disease process. Definitions which regard the terminating
outcome as a censor of the recurring outcome focus on specific
cause-specific hazard functions, while event definitions which make no
distinction between a recurring and terminating outcome focus on hazard
functions of the induced failure times. Some event definitions require
strong statistical assumptions to yield valid inferences and are not
recommended. The application of WLW for recurring/terminating processes
is illustrated with the results of two recently conducted clinical
trials in persons with HIV.
*Models, Statistical *Randomized Controlled Trials/METHODS