-- KathrynStoltzfus - 16 Apr 2018

Title: Multiple Imputation of Gait Speed in 400-meter Walk with Time Constraint in the Presence of Non-completers

Abstract

When a 400-meter (400-m) walk test with time constraint (in 15 minutes) is administered, the analysis of the associated 400-m gait speed can be challenging since some older adults are unable to complete the distance in time (non-completers). A simplistic imputation method is to calculate the observed speeds of the non-completers as the partially completed distance divided by the corresponding amount of elapsed time as an estimate for the gait speed over the full 400-m distance. This common practice has not been validated to the best of our knowledge. We propose a Bayesian multiple imputation (MI) method to impute the unobserved 400-m gait speed for the non-completers. Briefly, MI is performed under the assumption that the unobserved 400-m gait speed of the non-completers is left-censored from a normal distribution. We illustrate the application of the Bayesian MI method using longitudinal data collected from the Lifestyle Interventions for Elders (LIFE) study. A simulation study is performed to assess the bias in estimation of the mean 400-m gait speed using both methods. The results indicate that the simplistic imputation method tends to overestimate the population mean, whereas the Bayesian MI method yields minimal bias as the sample size increases.
Topic revision: r1 - 16 Apr 2018, KathrynStoltzfus
 

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