Event history graphs for censored survival data

A compact graphical device for combining survival and time-varying covariat e information is proposed. The proposed graph contains the Kaplan-Meier est imator For right-censored data and a simultaneous display of the behaviour of time-dependent covariate(s) and the lifetime for each subject in the sam ple. The observed levels of time-dependent covariates are possibly subjecte d to an initial dimension reduction or smoothing step to produce a continuo us covariate function. Values of this function are plotted on a horizontal bar for the length of the lifetime of the subject. Covariate information fo r censored data is also incorporated. The union of the horizontal bars form s the Kaplan-Meier estimator of the survival function. Our graphical method is implemented with a new S-plus function and demonstrated in several appl ications. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.