Authors
Stephanie T Lanza, Xianming Tan, Bethany C Bray
Publication date
2011
Issue
11-116
Publisher
Technical Report Series
Description
A model-based approach is proposed to empirically derive and summarize the class-dependent density functions of distal outcomes with categorical, continuous, or count distributions. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to compare the performance of the new technique to two commonly used classify-analyze techniques: maximum-probability assignment and multiple pseudo-class draws. Simulation results show that the model-based approach produces substantially less biased estimates of the effect compared to either classify-analyze technique, particularly when the association between the latent class variable and the distal outcome is strong. In addition, we show that only the model-based approach is consistent. Sample SAS syntax for implementing this approach using PROC LCA and a corresponding macro are provided.
Total citations
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