Simulation-based assessment of a Bayesian survival model with flexible baseline hazard and time-dependent effects

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Main Authors: Timmins, Iain R., Torabi, Fatemeh, Jackson, Christopher H., Lambert, Paul C., Sweeting, Michael J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Timmins, Iain R.
Torabi, Fatemeh
Jackson, Christopher H.
Lambert, Paul C.
Sweeting, Michael J.
author_facet Timmins, Iain R.
Torabi, Fatemeh
Jackson, Christopher H.
Lambert, Paul C.
Sweeting, Michael J.
contents There is increasing interest in flexible parametric models for the analysis of time-to-event data, yet Bayesian approaches that offer incorporation of prior knowledge remain underused. A flexible Bayesian parametric model has recently been proposed that uses M-splines to model the hazard function. We conducted a simulation study to assess the statistical performance of this model, which is implemented in the survextrap R package. Our simulation uses data generating mechanisms of realistic survival data based on two oncology clinical trials. Statistical performance is compared across a range of flexible models, varying the M-spline specification, smoothing procedure, priors, and other computational settings. We demonstrate good performance across realistic scenarios, including good fit of complex baseline hazard functions and time-dependent covariate effects. This work helps inform key considerations to guide model selection, as well as identifying appropriate default model settings in the software that should perform well in a broad range of applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_21388
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simulation-based assessment of a Bayesian survival model with flexible baseline hazard and time-dependent effects
Timmins, Iain R.
Torabi, Fatemeh
Jackson, Christopher H.
Lambert, Paul C.
Sweeting, Michael J.
Methodology
Computation
There is increasing interest in flexible parametric models for the analysis of time-to-event data, yet Bayesian approaches that offer incorporation of prior knowledge remain underused. A flexible Bayesian parametric model has recently been proposed that uses M-splines to model the hazard function. We conducted a simulation study to assess the statistical performance of this model, which is implemented in the survextrap R package. Our simulation uses data generating mechanisms of realistic survival data based on two oncology clinical trials. Statistical performance is compared across a range of flexible models, varying the M-spline specification, smoothing procedure, priors, and other computational settings. We demonstrate good performance across realistic scenarios, including good fit of complex baseline hazard functions and time-dependent covariate effects. This work helps inform key considerations to guide model selection, as well as identifying appropriate default model settings in the software that should perform well in a broad range of applications.
title Simulation-based assessment of a Bayesian survival model with flexible baseline hazard and time-dependent effects
topic Methodology
Computation
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.21388