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Analyzing survival curves at a fixed point in time
Author(s) -
Klein John P.,
Logan Brent,
Harhoff Mette,
Andersen Per Kragh
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/sim.2864
Subject(s) - survival analysis , statistics , time point , mathematics , sample size determination , survival function , monte carlo method , computer science , philosophy , aesthetics
A common problem encountered in many medical applications is the comparison of survival curves. Often, rather than comparison of the entire survival curves, interest is focused on the comparison at a fixed point in time. In most cases, the naive test based on a difference in the estimates of survival is used for this comparison. In this note, we examine the performance of alternatives to the naive test. These include tests based on a number of transformations of the survival function and a test based on a generalized linear model for pseudo‐observations. The type I errors and power of these tests for a variety of sample sizes are compared by a Monte Carlo study. We also discuss how these tests may be extended to situations where the data are stratified. The pseudo‐value approach is also applicable in more detailed regression analysis of the survival probability at a fixed point in time. The methods are illustrated on a study comparing survival for autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.