IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/ijspjl/v9y2020i4p49.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Statistical Issues on Analysis of Censored Data Due to Detection Limit

Author

Listed:
  • Hua He
  • Xuenan Mi
  • Jerry Cornell
  • Wan Tang
  • Tanika Kelly
  • Hui Shen
  • Hongwen Deng
  • Yan Du

Abstract

Measures of substance concentration in urine, serum or other biological matrices often have an assay limit of detection. When concentration levels fall below the limit, the exact measures cannot be obtained, and thus are left censored. Common practice for addressing the censoring issue is to delete or 'fill-in' the censored observations in data analysis, which often results in biased or non-efficient estimates. Assuming the concentration or transformed concentration follows a normal distribution, a Tobit regression model can be applied. When the study population is heterogeneous, for example due to the existence of a latent group of subjects who lack the substance, the problem becomes more challenging. In this paper, we conduct intensive simulation studies to investigate the statistical issues in analyzing censored data and compare different methods in which the data are treated either as a dependent variable or an independent variable. We also analyze triclosan data in the NHANES study and metabolites data in the Bogalusa Heart Study to illustrate the issues. Some guidelines for analyzing such censored data are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Hua He & Xuenan Mi & Jerry Cornell & Wan Tang & Tanika Kelly & Hui Shen & Hongwen Deng & Yan Du, 2020. "Statistical Issues on Analysis of Censored Data Due to Detection Limit," International Journal of Statistics and Probability, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(4), pages 1-49, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:ijspjl:v:9:y:2020:i:4:p:49
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijsp/article/download/0/0/43016/45183
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijsp/article/view/0/43016
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas J. Taylor & Lawrence L. Kupper & Stephen M. Rappaport & Robert H. Lyles, 2001. "A Mixture Model for Occupational Exposure Mean Testing with a Limit of Detection," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 57(3), pages 681-688, September.
    2. McDonald, John F & Moffitt, Robert A, 1980. "The Uses of Tobit Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(2), pages 318-321, May.
    3. Amemiya, Takeshi, 1984. "Tobit models: A survey," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 3-61.
    4. Rosen, Harvey S, 1976. "Taxes in a Labor Supply Model with Joint Wage-Hours Determination," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(3), pages 485-507, May.
    5. Michael C. Keeley & Philip K. Robins & Robert G. Spiegelman & Richard W. West, 1978. "The Labor-Supply Effects and Costs of Alternative Negative Income Tax Programs," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 13(1), pages 3-36.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eunsil Seok & Akhgar Ghassabian & Yuyan Wang & Mengling Liu, 2024. "Statistical Methods for Modeling Exposure Variables Subject to Limit of Detection," Statistics in Biosciences, Springer;International Chinese Statistical Association, vol. 16(2), pages 435-458, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eugenia Muchnik & Isabel Vial & Andreas Strüver & Bettina Harbart, 1991. "Oferta de Trabajo Femenino en Santiago," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 28(85), pages 463-490.
    2. Katrien Ramaekers & Sofie Reumers & Geert Wets & Mario Cools, 2013. "Modelling Route Choice Decisions of Car Travellers Using Combined GPS and Diary Data," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 351-372, September.
    3. Jeanjean, Thomas & Stolowy, Hervé, 2009. "Determinants of board members' financial expertise -- Empirical evidence from France," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 378-402, December.
    4. Saroj & Kirtti Ranjan Paltasingh, 2024. "What promotes production contract in Indian agriculture? Managing market risk versus profit orientation," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 140-153, January.
    5. Goic, Marcel & Rojas, Andrea & Saavedra, Ignacio, 2021. "The Effectiveness of Triggered Email Marketing in Addressing Browse Abandonments," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 118-145.
    6. Brehanu, Amare & Fufa, Bekabil, 2008. "Repayment rate of loans from semi-formal financial institutions among small-scale farmers in Ethiopia: Two-limit Tobit analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2221-2230, December.
    7. David Aristei & Luca Pieroni, 2008. "A double-hurdle approach to modelling tobacco consumption in Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(19), pages 2463-2476.
    8. William Martin & Cong S. Pham, 2020. "Estimating the gravity model when zero trade flows are frequent and economically determined," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(26), pages 2766-2779, May.
    9. Bai, Junfei & Wahl, Thomas I. & Lohmar, Bryan T. & Huang, Jikun, 2010. "Food away from home in Beijing: Effects of wealth, time and "free" meals," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 432-441, September.
    10. Lyu, Seong Ok & Hwang, Jinsoo, 2015. "Are the days of tourist information centers gone? Effects of the ubiquitous information environment," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 54-63.
    11. Bernard Fortin & Nadia Joubert & Guy Lacroix, 2002. "Fiscalité, effets de voisinage et offre de travail au noir," Post-Print halshs-00178184, HAL.
    12. Liu, Haiyan & Wahl, Thomas I. & Seale, James L. & Bai, Junfei, 2015. "Household composition, income, and food-away-from-home expenditure in urban China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 97-103.
    13. Ephraim Nkonya & Ted Schroeder & David Norman, 1997. "Factors Affecting Adoption Of Improved Maize Seed And Fertiliser In Northern Tanzania," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1‐3), pages 1-12, January.
    14. Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2013. "Microcredit, Labor, and Poverty Impacts in Urban Mexico," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 747-762, November.
    15. Kim, Kayoung & Cho, Youngsang, 2017. "Estimation of power outage costs in the industrial sector of South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 236-245.
    16. Akinola, Adebayo A. & Alene, Arega D. & Adeyemo, Remi & Sanogo, D. & Olanrewaju, A.S. & Nwoke, C. & Nziguheba, G., 2010. "Determinants of adoption and intensity of use of balance nutrient management systems technologies in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 49(01), pages 1-21.
    17. Russell Pittman, 1988. "Rent-seeking and market structure: Comment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 173-185, August.
    18. Alene, Arega D. & Poonyth, Daneswar & Hassan, Rashid M., 2000. "Determinants of adoption and intensity of use of improved maize varieties in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia: A Tobit analysis," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 39(4), pages 1-11, December.
    19. Bai, Junfei & Wahl, Thomas I. & McCluskey, Jill J., 2008. "Fluid milk consumption in urban Qingdao, China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(2), pages 1-15.
    20. Anil Kumar, 2012. "Nonparametric estimation of the impact of taxes on female labor supply," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 415-439, April.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:ijspjl:v:9:y:2020:i:4:p:49. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.