title: Analysis of mortality rates via marginal extended quasi-likelihood.
abstract: We use a mixed Poisson regression model with extra variation to analyse mortality data cross-classified by age and geographic region. We use estimates of dispersion parameter and fixed effects parameters, obtained by maximizing a marginal quasi-likelihood function, to estimate mortality rates in an empirical Bayes manner. This is a modification of an earlier method by Tsutakawa that used the likelihood function and is computationally impractical for routine use. In order to apply the extended quasi-likelihood function, a linear variance function (of the mean) is used in place of a quadratic one used previously. We illustrate the method with male lung cancer deaths in the state of Missouri.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics and Statistics, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Tsutakawa
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D015982:Bias; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D016014:Linear Models; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008923:Missouri / Q000453:epidemiology; D009026:Mortality; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics