On Bayesian Subgroup Analysis Using a Decision-Theoretic Approach

• Activity Number: 320
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Bayesian Statistical Science
• Author(s): Siva Sivaganesan*+ and Yang Xiao and Purushottam Laud and Peter Mueller
• Companies: University of Cincinnati and University of Cincinnati and Medical University of Wisconsin and University of Texas at Austin
• Keywords: Subgroup analysis ; variable selection ; decision theory

Abstract

Subgroup analysis is the comparison of treatment efficacy in a clinical trial among subgroups defined by baseline patient characteristics such as gender and age. We extend an earlier work to a factorial design, and discuss an approach to identify subgroup effects based on a decision theoretic motivation. Frequents operating characteristics of the approach are investigated under various scenarios. We compare our method with a frequentist procedure using a typical adjustment for multiple testing, such as Bonferroni. Finally, we discuss the application to a clinical trial data.