Repeated-measures models to evaluate a hepatitis B vaccination programme

In 1985-1986, a hepatitis B vaccination programme was conducted in a Belgia n institution for the mentally handicapped. A group of 97 residents was fol lowed up for 11 years in order to characterize the long-term persistence of hepatitis B antibodies after vaccination. This paper proposes the use of l inear mixed-effects models to account for serial correlation and between-in dividual heterogeneity in the data, while adjusting the analysis for variou s individual characteristics and important risk factors in the response to vaccination. We propose several model building strategies and focus on the prediction of future levels of antibodies. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.