Preface to the Second Edition
Since the publication of the first edition nine years ago, analyses using time-to-event methods have increased considerably in all areas of scientific inquiry. We believe that two important reasons for the increase are: (1) the statistical methods for the analysis of time-to-event data are now taught in many intermediate level methods courses and not just advanced courses and (2) the software to perform most of the methods is now available and easy to use in all the major software packages.
The approach taken in the second edition has not changed from the first edition, where the goal was to provide a focused text on regression modeling for the time-to-event data typically encountered in health related studies. As in the first edition, we assume that the reader has had a course in linear regression at the level of Kleinbaum, Kupper, Muller and Nizam (1998) and one in logistic regression at the level of Hosmer and Lemeshow (2000). Emphasis is placed on the modeling of data and the interpretation of the results. Crucial to this is an understanding of the nature of the “incomplete” or “censored” data encountered. Understanding the censoring mechanism is important as it may influence model selection and interpretation. Yet, once understood and accounted for, censoring is often just another technical detail handled by the computer software, allowing emphasis to return to model building, assessment of model fit, and assumptions and interpretation of the ...
