Analysis of exposure-time-response relationships using a spline weight function

To examine the time-dependent effects of exposure histories on disease, we estimate a weight function within a generalized linear model. The shape of the weight function, which is modeled as a cubic B-spline, gives informatio n about the impact of exposure increments at different times on disease ris k. The method is evaluated in a simulation study and is applied to data on smoking histories and lung cancer from a recent case-control study in Germa ny.