• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.173-184
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• 2018

In medical or public health research, it is common to encounter clustered or longitudinal count data that exhibit excess zeros. For example, health care utilization data often have a multi-modal distribution with excess zeroes as well as a multilevel structure where patients are nested within physicians and hospitals. To analyze this type of data, zero-inflated count models with mixed effects have been developed where a count response variable is assumed to be distributed as a mixture of a Poisson or negative binomial and a distribution with a point mass of zeros that include random effects. However, no study has considered a situation where data are also censored due to the finite nature of the observation period or follow-up. In this paper, we present a weighted version of zero-inflated Poisson model with random effects accounting for variable individual follow-up times. We suggested two different types of weight function. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated and compared to a standard zero-inflated mixed model through simulation studies. This approach is then applied to Medicaid data analysis.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2016

The classical statistical approach using test data samples to estimate true value of Random Variables by calculating mean and variation (standard deviation or coefficient of variation) of samples is very useful to understand the existing condition of the structure. But with this classical approach, our prior knowledge through educational background and professional experience cannot provide any benefit to make decisions by the structural engineers. This paper shows the role of Bayesian methodology by providing chance of using valuable prior knowledge to come up with more accurate estimation of structural condition. This paper also shows how important it is to have a proper prior estimate of Random Variables and corresponding confidence level through gathering and studying more relevant information.