Software
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MLwiN 2.261
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WinBUGS version 1.4
|
Cost
|
Once-off purchase
|
Free
|
Available interfaces
|
Stata
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Stata, SAS, R
|
Initial data structure
| | |
Retains multilevel structure (Patients nested in higher-level units)
|
Yes
|
No
|
Data expansion required
|
Yes
|
No
|
Geographical Structure
|
None
|
Preserves adjacent areas
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Explanatory variables
|
Unit Record Individual and higher-level
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Aggregated at individual-level and higher-level
|
Modelled Outcome
|
Individual deaths
|
Aggregated deaths
|
Random Effects
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Prior distributions
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Gamma, Uniform
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Any including Gamma, Uniform, CAR
|
Default Priors
|
Yes
|
requires user specification of priors; greater flexibility
|
Estimation Method: MCMC
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Number of MCMC chains
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Single only
|
Single (multiple allowed also)
|
Level of random effects
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Individual and higher-level
|
Higher-level
|
Within-area correlation
|
Yes
|
No
|
Between-area correlation
|
No
|
Yes
|
Adjacency matrix
|
No
|
Yes
|
Computational efficiency ( 5 year data)2
|
5-7 days
|
5-7 days
|
Ease of Implementation
|
R equires prior data expansion
|
Requires specification of model including prior distributions
|
Diagnostic Tests/ convergence plots
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Questions answered:
| | |
Do area- and individual-level factors impact survival for individual patients?
|
Yes
|
No
|
Extent to which between-individual variability is explained by covariates at both levels
|
Yes
|
No
|
Estimates unexplained area-level spatial variation after adjusting for parameters
|
No
|
Yes
|
Map spatial variation by small-areas
|
No
|
Yes
|
Cross level interactions
|
Yes
|
No
|
Allow unit record individual-level inferences
|
Yes
|
No
|
Parameter estimates
|
Odds ratio (OR)
|
Relative risk (RR)
|