title: Review of case-mix corrected survival curves.
abstract: Survival is an end point of immense interest in cardiothoracic research. In observational studies, the comparison of survival between groups of patients is usually accomplished using a toolbox that includes Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the Cox model. The Cox model yields comparisons between groups adjusted for case-mix differences, whereas the Kaplan-Meier is a plot of survival over time without adjustment. During the past decade, new methods have emerged for case-mix adjustment of survival curves and are increasingly being used in cardiothoracic research. The purpose of this report is to describe, illustrate, and review several approaches to case-mix adjusted survival (or event-free) curves.
authors.affiliation: Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group, Lebanon, New Hampshire 03756, USA. todd.a.mackenzie@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.forename: Jeremiah R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Donald S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Likosky
authors.forename: YingXing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Grunkemeier
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D020379:Risk Adjustment / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016019:Survival Analysis