title: Life tables for clinical scientists.
abstract: The life-table, or Cutler-Ederer, method of survival analysis is a simple and efficient means of estimating the probability that the first instance of an event will occur in a given period of time in studies complicated by incomplete patient follow-up. This discussion is designed to acquaint the nonstatistician with the general concepts, assumptions, advantages, and disadvantages of life-table analysis. The arcane nature of the calculations frustrates attempts at simplification. A glossary of statistical terms and sample calculations are provided for interested readers.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D016019:Survival Analysis; D009626:Terminology as Topic