Baseline Adjustment in Longitudinal Studies
Abstract
A baseline variable may be a demographic characteristic such as sex, a pretreatment observation on the variable to be used for measuring outcome, or a pretreatment observation on a variable correlated with the outcome. Adjustment by the analysis of covariance is preferable to the analysis of changes. Topics discussed include testing for baseline balance, adjustment for baselines taken after start of treatment, cut-off designs, cohort studies, and uncontrolled studies.