A Bayesian analysis of the 4-year follow-up data of the Wisconsin epidemiologic study of diabetic retinopathy.

The Wisconsin epidemiologic study of diabetic retinopathy (WESDR) is a population-based epidemiologic study carried out in Southern Wisconsin during the 1980s of the last century. The resulting data were analysed by different statisticians and ophthalmologists during the last two decades. Most of the analyses were carried out on the baseline data, although there were two follow-up studies on the same population. In this present paper, we provide a Bayesian analysis of the first follow-up data which were taken 4 years after the baseline study. Our Bayesian analysis provides estimates of the associated covariate effects. Choice of the best model in terms of the covariate inclusion is also performed. The baseline data were used to set the prior for the parameters. Extensive numerical computations illustrate our present methodology. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.