Comparing several score tests for interval censored data.

Abstract

I create a general model to perform score tests on interval censored data. Special cases of this model are the score tests of Finkelstein, Sun and Fay. Although Sun's was derived as a test for discrete data and Finkelstein's and Fay's tests were derived under a grouped continuous model, by writing all tests under one general model we see that as long as the regularity conditions hold, any of these three classes of tests may be applied to either grouped continuous or discrete data. I show the equivalence between the weighted logrank form of the general test and the form with a term for each individual, the form often used with permutation tests. From the weighted logrank form of the tests, we see that Sun's and Finkelstein's test are similar, giving constant (or approximately constant) weights to differences in survival distributions over time. In contrast, the proportional odds model (Fay's model with logistic error) gives more weight to early differences.