Interval-Censored Regression with Non-Proportional Hazards with Applications

Abstract

Proportional hazards models and, in some situations, accelerated failure time models, are not suitable for analyzing data when the failure ratio between two individuals is not constant. We present a Weibull accelerated failure time model with covariables on the location and scale parameters. By considering the effects of covariables not only on the location parameter, but also on the scale, a regression should be able to adequately describe the difference between treatments. In addition, the deviance residuals adapted for data with the interval censored and the exact time of failure proved to be satisfactory to verify the fit of the model. This information favors the Weibull regression as an alternative to the proportional hazards models without masking the effect of the explanatory variables.