Cox regression model with time-varying coefficients in nested case-control studies

Biostatistics. 2010 Oct;11(4):693-706. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxq037. Epub 2010 Jun 3.

Abstract

The nested case-control (NCC) design is a cost-effective sampling method to study the relationship between a disease and its risk factors in epidemiologic studies. NCC data are commonly analyzed using Thomas' partial likelihood approach under Cox's proportional hazards model with constant covariate effects. Here, we are interested in studying the potential time-varying effects of covariates in NCC studies and propose an estimation approach based on a kernel-weighted Thomas' partial likelihood. We establish asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator, propose a numerical approach to construct simultaneous confidence bands for time-varying coefficients, and develop a hypothesis testing procedure to detect time-varying coefficients. The proposed inference procedure is evaluated in simulations and applied to an NCC study of breast cancer in the New York University Women's Health Study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Algorithms
  • Biostatistics / methods*
  • Breast Neoplasms / epidemiology
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics
  • Case-Control Studies*
  • Computer Simulation
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Likelihood Functions
  • Middle Aged
  • Proportional Hazards Models*
  • Risk
  • Sample Size
  • Smoking / genetics
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • XPC protein, human