Joint Modeling of Longitudinal EHR Data with Shared Random Effects for Informative Visiting and Observation Processes

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Yang, Cheng-Han, Shi, Xu, Mukherjee, Bhramar
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Yang, Cheng-Han
Shi, Xu
Mukherjee, Bhramar
author_facet Yang, Cheng-Han
Shi, Xu
Mukherjee, Bhramar
contents Longitudinal electronic health record (EHR) data offer opportunities to study biomarker trajectories; however, association estimates-the primary inferential target-from standard models designed for regular observation times may be biased by a two-stage hierarchical missingness mechanism. The first stage is the visiting process (informative presence), where encounters occur at irregular times driven by patient health status; the second is the observation process (informative observation), where biomarkers are selectively measured during visits. To address these mechanisms, we propose a unified semiparametric joint modeling framework that simultaneously characterizes the visiting, biomarker observation, and longitudinal outcome processes. Central to this framework is a shared subject-specific Gaussian latent variable that captures unmeasured frailty and induces dependence across all components. We develop a three-stage estimation procedure and establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of our estimators. We also introduce a sequential procedure that imputes missing biomarkers prior to adjusting for irregular visiting and examine its performance. Simulation results demonstrate that our method yields unbiased estimates under this mechanism, whereas existing approaches can be substantially biased; notably, methods adjusting only for irregular visiting may exhibit even greater bias than those ignoring both mechanisms. We apply our framework to data from the All of Us Research Program to investigate associations between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status indicators and six blood-based biomarker trajectories, providing a robust tool for outpatient settings where irregular monitoring and selective measurement are prevalent.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_15374
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Joint Modeling of Longitudinal EHR Data with Shared Random Effects for Informative Visiting and Observation Processes
Yang, Cheng-Han
Shi, Xu
Mukherjee, Bhramar
Methodology
Applications
Longitudinal electronic health record (EHR) data offer opportunities to study biomarker trajectories; however, association estimates-the primary inferential target-from standard models designed for regular observation times may be biased by a two-stage hierarchical missingness mechanism. The first stage is the visiting process (informative presence), where encounters occur at irregular times driven by patient health status; the second is the observation process (informative observation), where biomarkers are selectively measured during visits. To address these mechanisms, we propose a unified semiparametric joint modeling framework that simultaneously characterizes the visiting, biomarker observation, and longitudinal outcome processes. Central to this framework is a shared subject-specific Gaussian latent variable that captures unmeasured frailty and induces dependence across all components. We develop a three-stage estimation procedure and establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of our estimators. We also introduce a sequential procedure that imputes missing biomarkers prior to adjusting for irregular visiting and examine its performance. Simulation results demonstrate that our method yields unbiased estimates under this mechanism, whereas existing approaches can be substantially biased; notably, methods adjusting only for irregular visiting may exhibit even greater bias than those ignoring both mechanisms. We apply our framework to data from the All of Us Research Program to investigate associations between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status indicators and six blood-based biomarker trajectories, providing a robust tool for outpatient settings where irregular monitoring and selective measurement are prevalent.
title Joint Modeling of Longitudinal EHR Data with Shared Random Effects for Informative Visiting and Observation Processes
topic Methodology
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15374