Predicting dental implant survival by use of the marginal approach of the semi-parametric survival methods for clustered observations

J Dent Res. 2002 Dec;81(12):851-5. doi: 10.1177/154405910208101211.

Abstract

The analyses of clustered survival observations within the same subject are challenging. This study's purpose was to compare and contrast predicted dental implant survival estimates assuming the independence or dependence of clustered observations. Using a retrospective cohort composed of 677 patients (2,349 implants), we applied an innovative analytic marginal approach to produce point and variance estimates of survival predictions given the covariates smoking status, implant staging, and timing of placement adjusted for clustered observations (dependence method). We developed a second model assuming independence of the clustered observations (naïve method). The 95% confidence intervals for survival prediction point estimates given the naive method were 5.9% to 14.3% more narrow than the dependence method estimates, resulting in an increased risk for type I error and erroneous rejection of the null hypothesis. To obtain statistically valid confidence intervals for survival prediction of the Aalen-Breslow estimates, we recommend adjusting for dependence among clustered survival observations.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Cluster Analysis
  • Dental Implantation, Endosseous / methods*
  • Dental Implants*
  • Dental Restoration Failure*
  • Forecasting
  • Humans
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Smoking
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Survival Analysis

Substances

  • Dental Implants