Abstract
Point estimation is particularly important in predicting weight loss in individuals or small groups. In this analysis, a new health response function is based on a model of human response over time to estimate long-term health outcomes from a change point in short-term linear regression. This important estimation capability is addressed for small groups and single-subject designs in pilot studies for clinical trials, medical and therapeutic clinical practice. These estimations are based on a change point given by parameters derived from short-term participant data in ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The development of the change point in initial OLS data and the point estimations are given in a new semiparametric ratio estimator (SPRE) model. The new response function is taken as a ratio of two-parameter Weibull distributions times a prior outcome value that steps estimated outcomes forward in time, where the shape and scale parameters are estimated at the change point. The Weibull distributions used in this ratio are derived from a Kelvin model in mechanics taken here to represent human beings. A distinct feature of the SPRE model in this article is that initial treatment response for a small group or a single subject is reflected in long-term response to treatment. This model is applied to weight loss in obesity in a secondary analysis of data from a classic weight loss study, which has been selected due to the dramatic increase in obesity in the United States over the past 20 years. A very small relative error of estimated to test data is shown for obesity treatment with the weight loss medication phentermine or placebo for the test dataset. An application of SPRE in clinical medicine or occupational therapy is to estimate long-term weight loss for a single subject or a small group near the beginning of treatment.
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©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin / Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Research Articles
- Sensitivity Analysis for Causal Inference under Unmeasured Confounding and Measurement Error Problems
- Assessing the Causal Effect of Policies: An Example Using Stochastic Interventions
- Novel Point Estimation from a Semiparametric Ratio Estimator (SPRE): Long-Term Health Outcomes from Short-Term Linear Data, with Application to Weight Loss in Obesity
- Exact Nonparametric Confidence Bands for the Survivor Function
- Semiparametric Regression Analysis of Clustered Interval-Censored Failure Time Data with Informative Cluster Size
- A Weighting Analogue to Pair Matching in Propensity Score Analysis
- Alternative Monotonicity Assumptions for Improving Bounds on Natural Direct Effects
- Estimation of Risk Ratios in Cohort Studies with a Common Outcome: A Simple and Efficient Two-stage Approach
- Distance-Based Mapping of Disease Risk
- The Balanced Survivor Average Causal Effect
- Commentary
- Principal Stratification: A Broader Vision
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Research Articles
- Sensitivity Analysis for Causal Inference under Unmeasured Confounding and Measurement Error Problems
- Assessing the Causal Effect of Policies: An Example Using Stochastic Interventions
- Novel Point Estimation from a Semiparametric Ratio Estimator (SPRE): Long-Term Health Outcomes from Short-Term Linear Data, with Application to Weight Loss in Obesity
- Exact Nonparametric Confidence Bands for the Survivor Function
- Semiparametric Regression Analysis of Clustered Interval-Censored Failure Time Data with Informative Cluster Size
- A Weighting Analogue to Pair Matching in Propensity Score Analysis
- Alternative Monotonicity Assumptions for Improving Bounds on Natural Direct Effects
- Estimation of Risk Ratios in Cohort Studies with a Common Outcome: A Simple and Efficient Two-stage Approach
- Distance-Based Mapping of Disease Risk
- The Balanced Survivor Average Causal Effect
- Commentary
- Principal Stratification: A Broader Vision