Marginal analyses of longitudinal data with an informative pattern of observations

Abstract

We consider solutions to generalized estimating equations with singular working correlation matrices, of which the estimator of Diggle et al. (2007) is a special case. We give explicit conditions for consistent estimation when the pattern of observations may be informative. In such cases, simulations reveal reduced bias and reduced mean squared error compared with existing alternatives. A study of peritoneal dialysis is used to illustrate the methodology.