title: Survival analysis I: the Kaplan-Meier method.
abstract: The Kaplan-Meier (KM) method is used to analyze 'time-to-event' data. The outcome in KM analysis often includes all-cause mortality, but could also include other outcomes such as the occurrence of a cardiovascular event. The purpose of this article is to explain the basic concepts of the KM method, to provide some guidance regarding the presentation of the KM results and to discuss some important limitations of this method. To do this, we use a clinical example derived from the nephrology literature.
authors.affiliation: ERA-EDTA Registry, Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. v.s.stel@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Vianda S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Stel
authors.forename: Friedo W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tripepi
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zoccali
authors.forename: Kitty J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Jager
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000401:mortality*; D012042:Registries; D016019:Survival Analysis