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On the interpretation of the hazard ratio in Cox regression
Author(s) -
De Neve Jan,
Gerds Thomas A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
biometrical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-4036
pISSN - 0323-3847
DOI - 10.1002/bimj.201800255
Subject(s) - covariate , probabilistic logic , statistics , proportional hazards model , event (particle physics) , index (typography) , hazard , hazard ratio , econometrics , regression analysis , regression , conditional probability , mathematics , term (time) , computer science , confidence interval , physics , chemistry , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , world wide web
We argue that the term “relative risk” should not be used as a synonym for “hazard ratio” and encourage to use the probabilistic index as an alternative effect measure for Cox regression. The probabilistic index is the probability that the event time of an exposed or treated subject exceeds the event time of an unexposed or untreated subject conditional on the other covariates. It arises as a well known and simple transformation of the hazard ratio and nicely reveals the interpretational limitations. We demonstrate how the probabilistic index can be obtained using the R‐package Publish.