Regression analysis of interval-censored survival data with covariates using log-linear models.

We considered the regression analysis of the event time data with left-, right-, or interval-censored observations. We extended life-table techniques for censored survival data using log-linear models to incorporate interval-censored failures. The EM algorithm was used to calculate maximum likelihood estimates for the parameters. We assumed that the hazard function was a stepwise function over disjoint intervals of time; thus, the nonparametric model, the parametric exponential model, and the semiparametric Cox proportional hazard model were easily implemented as special cases. We adapted the restricted EM algorithm to test hypotheses and to construct confidence intervals for the parameters. These methods were applied in an analysis of the recurrence time for treated melanoma patients.