Multidimensional penalized splines for incidence and mortality-trend analyses and validation of national cancer-incidence estimates

ConclusionsThe validation process confirmed the validity of the national French estimates; it may be applied in other countries to help in choosing the most appropriate national estimation method according to country-specific contexts. MPS form a powerful statistical tool for trend analyses; they allow trends to vary smoothly with age and are suitable for modelling simple as well as complex trends thanks to penalization. Detailed trend analyses of lung and prostate cancers illustrated the suitability of MPS and the epidemiological interest of such analyses.
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research