Background: Many alcohol research questions require methods that take a person-centered approach because the interest is in finding heterogeneous groups of individuals, such as those who are susceptible to alcohol dependence and those who are not. A person-centered focus also is useful with longitudinal data to represent heterogeneity in developmental trajectories. In alcohol, drug, and mental ...

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to develop an empirical approach to classifying patients with transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) based on clinical signs and symptoms. METHODS Data from 971 symptomatic subjects enrolled in the Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey were analyzed using a latent class analysis approach. Differences in health status measures for the latent classes were ex...

This paper discusses alternatives to single-step mixture modeling. A 3step method for latent class predictor variables is studied in several different settings including latent class analysis, latent transition analysis, and growth mixture modeling. It is explored under violations of its assumptions such as with direct effects from predictors to latent class indicators. The 3-step method is als...

This article discusses a modelling framework that links two well-known statistical methods: structural equation modelling (SEM) and latent class or finite mixture modelling. This hybrid approach was proposed independently by Arminger and Stein [1], Dolan and Van der Maas [4], and Jedidi, Jagpal and DeSarbo [5]. Here, we refer to this approach as mixture SEM or latent class SEM. There are two di...

Latent class analysis (LCA) is an important tool for marketing professionals who must characterize subgroups within large and heterogeneous populations. LCA is also of interest to clinical professionals who must place clients in diagnostic or prognostic categories when a gold standard for doing so is poorly defined. Attempts to bring LCA into the SAS® mainstream are fairly recent. The paper dis...

OBJECTIVE Knowledge of smoking change processes may be enhanced by identifying pathways to stable abstinence. We sought to identify latent classes of smokers based on their day-to-day smoking status in the first weeks of a cessation attempt. We examined treatment effects on class membership and compared classes on baseline individual differences and 6-month abstinence rates. METHOD In this se...

Over the past several years more significant books have been published on latent class and other types of finite mixture models than any other class of statistical models. The recent increase in interest in latent class models is due to the development of extended computer algorithms, which allow today's computers to perform latent class analysis on data containing more than just a few variable...

BACKGROUND As illustrated by the Montreal classification, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is much more than heartburn and patients constitute a heterogeneous group. Understanding if links exist between patients' characteristics and GERD symptoms, and classify subjects based on symptom-profile could help to better understand, diagnose, and treat GERD. The aim of this study was to identify...

This article uses latent structure analysis to model ordered category ratings by multiple experts on the appropriateness of indications for the medical procedure carotid endarterectomy. The statistical method used is a form of located latent class analysis, which combines elements of latent class and latent trait analysis. It assumes that treatment indications fall into distinct latent classes,...